INCOMING MEMBERS OF Dublin City Council from the Social Democrats, Sinn Féin, People Before Profit and a number of independents have formed a new Progressive Alliance.
With ten Social Democrats, nine Sinn Féin councillors, five independents and two members from People Before Profit, the Alliance has 26 members, which is short of the 32 required to form a majority. That means a Fine Gael-led majority will likely control the Council.
The independents are Pat Dunne, John Lyons, Vincent Jackson, Barry Heneghan and Cieran Perry.
Notably absent from the grouping are members from the Green Party and Labour.
Negotiations between the various left-leaning parties on the Council have been taking place since last Thursday, with talks initially involving the two parties.
Labour pulled out last week citing differences on local property tax and also saying the numbers weren’t there for a majority despite the collection of parties totalling 31 councillors without any independents or PBP members involved.
The Greens with their eight seats reportedly withdrew yesterday. The party has been asked for comment by The Journal.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil meanwhile have 11 and eight seats respectively while Labour holds four.
The lack of a majority for the new alliance means that a Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil-led majority is the likely outcome. If they get the Greens and Labour on board, that would amount to 31 seats, one short of a majority.
Sinn Féin’s leader on the Council, Daithí Doolan said he was delighted to announce the formation of the alliance, which has agreed “a progressive programme of work for the five-year term”.
The group will be proposing Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats and Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan for Lord Mayor and Deputy Mayor at tomorrow’s DCC annual general meeting.
“This Progressive Alliance offers a great opportunity for the people of Dublin. It offers a real alternative to the conservative politics of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael,” Doolan said.
“Unfortunately, the Green Party and Labour Party have not committed to supporting the Alliance. This is very shortsighted. I would strongly encourage them to support our five-year programme rather than propping up Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.”
Social Democrat councillor Cat O’Driscoll described the Alliance’s programme as one focused on “inclusion” and said that combating hate and racism was central to the group’s plans for the capital city, along with addressing housing, fuel poverty, safety and improving public services.
“Our Alliance, with inclusion and anti-racism at its core, is focused on addressing the challenges in housing, safety, climate and city services, leaving no one behind,” she said.
She also said her party was “very disappointed” that the Greens and Labour pulled out of the talks, adding that they has missed “a valuable opportunity to form a left-leaning alliance on Dublin City Council”.
Lord Mayor candidate Daniel Ennis said:
“I want to promote all that’s good about our great city at a time I feel we are facing our biggest challenges. We need to stamp out the hate that is attempting to bulldoze all of the city’s progress. There is no room for hate in our communities, there’s no place for it in Dublin.”
People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy said the alliance “demonstrated that the left can unite to deliver on core principles and to provide a much needed alternative to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil”.
He said it was a positive development ahead of a General Election and also criticised the Greens and Labour.
“By walking away from discussions with the left to speak to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, Labour and the Green Party have shown where they stand, this is clarifying and should not be forgotten.”
Reddy told The Journal the decisions from the two parties represent a “preference for the status quo” and are a sign of how they would act towards a possible left government at national level.
Social Democrat TD for Dublin Central, Gary Gannon, took aim at Labour in particular.
“For all their talk about the need for unity on the left, it now appears that the Labour Party will simply revert to their default position of being mudguards for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil at the first opportunity,” he said.
“In particular, it exposes Labour’s repeated calls for more cooperation between centre-left parties for the hollow rhetoric that it is.”
Incoming Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin recently said that his party and the Social Democrats “need to stop pretending there’s any difference between them”, suggesting they “join forces”.
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