CENTRE-LEFT POLITICAL PARTIES must put aside their differences and collaborate if they want to form a Government in the near future, Labour Party MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has said.
Last week, the Labour Party pulled out of a “progressive alliance” between left-leaning parties on Dublin City Council and decided to make an agreement with the Green Party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil instead.
Though the decision was met with some backlash by those on the left in the council, Ó Ríordáin told The Journal today that the parties need to offer some type of change, adding that politicians cannot have “an alliance for the sake”.
“Politics isn’t performance art. It’s about doing stuff,” the newly-elected MEP said. “It’s about helping people’s lives. It’s about helping people’s lives improve.”
“What is the point of having a collection of center-left parties, who are pretending every general election that there’s a massive gulf in their policy platform, when there isn’t,” he added.
Ó Ríordáin said the decision to not support the progressive alliance in Dublin City Council came down to the opposition the alliance had to raising the property tax, something he claims to be the “litmus test” for left-leaning parties.
The agreement between the current Government coalition parties and Labour in the Dublin local authority is likely to see local property tax paid by residents of the capital increase, raising an additional €60 million for the city over the next five years.
The coalition is also calling for an introduction of a hotel tourist tax.
In the progressive alliance, Sinn Féin insisted their annual property tax bill be instead reduced by 15%, what led Labour to crash out of the agreement.
“The local property tax is an article of faith when it comes to the Labour Party. A property tax is a wealth tax – people don’t like admitting it, but it’s true. Sinn Féin don’t accept that and People Before Profit don’t only accept,” Ó Ríordáin said.
“The local property tax and your attitude towards it shows the difference, whether you are posturing or genuinely progressive.”
He added: “It’s just a nonsenses suggestion that we could have a progressive alliance that throws the local property tax under the bus and doesn’t invest in people’s services.”
The former drugs minister said that cutting property tax would be akin to flushing €60 million “down the toilet” and argued that it can later help fund public services, street cleaning, playgrounds, work facilities, libraries and repair housing stock.
“That’s the litmus test, so if you’re gonna go with that – if your idea of a left-wing alliance includes Sinn Féin, who wants to have tax cuts for the wealthy over investments in public services – well then that’s not progressive.”
Last week, Social Democrats councillor Catherine Stocker said the issue is essentially a non-starter: “We do not have a majority to bring local property tax back to baseline or do anything else with it.”
Stocker added that it was “a shame” that Labour pulled out.
Ó Ríordáin said that he believes that the Social Democrats, as well as the Green Party, would hold a different view on the issue nationally and that the argument in Dublin City Council came down to “mayors and committees chairs”.
He added: “This is serious, this is life, it’s not a game. On a national basis, if we sit down with the Soc Dems and they’re not serious – just like the were not serious on Dublin City Council – there probably isn’t much point talking to them.
“But if they are serious, it’s worth talking to them.
“The ambitions here are big, because we can increase the role of the state, we can separate church and state, we can achieve things in education, we can achieve things in the housing crisis and other aspects of people’s lives. We can change drug policy, we can flip things on its head, we can really change the climate crisis, we can defeat racism.
“But if people’s aspiration is to the posture, well, then that’s fine.”
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