I can’t think of a better symbol for the political establishment’s ineptitude in the face of a shifting landscape than the Fine Gael Lord Mayor of Dublin’s judgement that Barack Obama dropping by to receive the Freedom of Dublin award bestowed on him eight years ago is a good idea, and just what the moment calls for.
In a letter sent this July, Ray McAdam invited the 44th President of the United States and his wife Michelle to accept the award on their upcoming trip to Dublin, in which he harkened back to everyone’s “fond memories” of Mr Obama’s 2011 visit.
He said that Dubliners had “long admired your leadership, your commitment to public service and your shared belief in the power of community, equality and democracy”. That might have been true in 2011, and may even still be true amongst the floundering elites of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, both of which are very much in line with the floundering elite of the Democratic party in the US, but those parties are about all it can be said to be true for.
Not only has, and is, the rest of the anglosphere moving ever more out of step – to the right – as evidenced by the return of Donald Trump and the rise of Nigel Farage, Ireland’s insatiable Left after which Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have plodded in the hope of picking up some extra votes for about a decade now, has judged President Obama and found him wanting.
His crime? His record in the Middle East.
As reported by RTÉ this morning, while councillors in 2017 voted to confer the Freedom of the City on Obama, councillors in 2025 plan on boycotting the ceremony:
“The Independent Group on Dublin City Council has said it will boycott the event due to Mr Obama’s ‘support for the terrorist regime in Israel’ and his ‘murderous foreign policy in Libya, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere’.
“‘The Obama administration granted Israel an unprecedented military aid package of $38 billion in 2015 despite its war crimes in Gaza and relentless settlement expansion,’ the statement read.
“‘His administration objected to Palestine joining the International Criminal Court and opposed any ICC investigation of grave crimes by Israeli officials.’
“The group also said the Obama administration carried out more drone strikes in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen compared to the Bush administration.”
Councillors are already planning to protest the event, and inviting their activism-minded supporters to join in doing so. And, from the perspective of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, who could blame them for doing so? It is they who’ve, sensing the popular appeal amongst the population, placed Gaza at the centre of Irish politics, and their leaders who’ve accused Israel of genocide.
That being the case, how can they, through their Lord Mayor, possibly justify honoring one of the men most responsible for the shoring up of Israel’s position in the Middle East through military and diplomatic protections? Well, I imagine left-wing critics of the ruling parties would argue, it’s because they’re hypocrites.
And to be fair to those left-wing critics, when it comes to this topic at least, they are most decidedly not hypocrites. They want anything that might conceivably support the Israeli military shut out of Ireland’s airspace, industries, data centres and financial systems. They’re willing to burn diplomatic ties with anybody and everybody who continues to enable Israel, up to and including the United States, upon which Ireland is so obviously dependent currently.
Whether you agree or disagree with the Left’s approach to this issue, they are at the very least consistent.
And that is the broader point here. With the Left, as indicated by Gript columnist Laura Perrins yesterday, you know what you’re getting. With Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, all you’re getting is opportunism, parties willing to bend in whichever direction they think the wind happens to be blowing.
They’ll talk a good game on Gaza, and then they’ll offer Barack Obama an award in a ceremony replete with honorifics and praise. They’ll start talking tough on immigration, much like the Conservative Party in the UK, while presiding over the most consequential inflow of people to Ireland since the plantation of Ulster. They’ll commit and recommit to rural Ireland while pouring the majority of their energy, efforts and investment into Dublin.
Of course, I’m of the opinion that the Left’s governance would be a disaster far beyond that which we’ve seen so far. But they are at least open about their radicality, in an age that appears to be growing kinder towards such honesty. Or at least, that’s growing more hostile to the muddled identity crisis politics embodied by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
It is a dynamic on full display in the upcoming presidential election, which is why the result, and the voting pattern, is going to be so very interesting. Should Catherine Connolly triumph, which there is reason to believe she will, it will definitively signal that the clumsy courtship of the Left is over.
The real deal will finally be here.