IRELAND HAS ENTERED a period of limbo at a time when events at home and abroad only become more tumultuous with each passing week.
To level with you, I had intended to write at some length about Taoiseach-to-be Simon Harris, who was photographed at last weekend’s Fine Gael Ard Fheis, holding up a party leaflet that read: ‘Fine Gael: Winning Through To A Just Society.’
As it turns out, Harris himself is not the man behind this decidedly uncatchy bit of gibberish. No, the manifesto Harris was holding is in fact Fine Gael’s 1973 election programme. This is useful information for anyone who is curious about what kind of timeframe Harris’ backbenchers might mean when they urge him to bring their party back to its “core values”.
Whatever these core values may end up being (Michael Ring, for one, said Fine Gael had been “too left for too long”), Harris will be applying them in the midst of a crisis. The man who will become Ireland’s youngest ever Taoiseach comes into the role against a backdrop of yet another a month of record-level homelessness and the news that State missed its 2023 target for social and affordable housing by 2,680 homes. Maybe “winning through” was something people said in the 70s.
The saving grace for Harris is that his chief political opponents are currently embroiled in some antics of their own. In the aftermath of the crushing defeat for the Care and Family referendums, both of which were supported by Sinn Féin, the party appears to be undergoing a U-turn-slash-short-circuit over its stance on the controversial hate speech legislation they are suddenly very eager to see scrapped.
It has been pointed out ad nauseam this week (and now it’s my turn) that Sinn Féin as a party voted in favour of the Hate Speech bill in the Dáil last April. Thus far, Sinn Féin have not put forward an explanation of the journey from aye to no, leaving the party vulnerable to accusations of “cowardice,” from one Leo Varadkar. Cowardice! Man, that guy really hates Sinn Féin.
The party, whose 2020 election manifesto promised the introduction of robust hate speech laws, has been decidedly opaque about the 180-degree turn, though they have pointed to their rejection of the bill when it came before the Seanad in June 2023.
In a brief and unspecific explanation this week, Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said: “We believe that it goes too far, some of the definitions are far too broad and to be honest, too much time has been taken up by this.” Ó Laoghaire would not, however, explain why the party voted for it in April.
As there are other criticisms of Hate Speech laws, such as the argument they do little to protect the cohorts they purport to help, it seems essential for Sinn Féin to explain what changed their thinking on the matter, and what it means for the overall culture of the party as we slouch towards what is certain to be a truly excruciating election.
— olly alexander (@alexander_olly) March 29, 2024
One group who did release a statement this week was a cohort of Eurovision contestants who called for “an immediate and lasting ceasefire and the safe return of all hostages,” but confirmed that they ultimately would not be boycotting the contestant. The signatories included Irish entry Bambie Thug and UK entry Olly Alexander.
In a sort of “winning through to a permanent ceasefire” rhetorical turn, the statement justified the decision by extolling “the unifying power of music… enabling people to transcend differences and foster meaningful conversations and connections”.
If you think that sounds a bit prolix, the statement goes immediately on to say: “We feel that it is our duty to create and uphold this space, with a strong hope that it will inspire greater compassion and empathy.” Even the most generous reading of this statement doesn’t make it possible to assign meaning to the words “it is our duty to create and uphold this space”. Uphold what space? The Eurovision Song Contest? Say what you will about the English, but you can do some truly fantastic tricks with their language.
One suspects that Bambie Thug and Olly Alexander may have anticipated the backlash the joint statement would receive, as they issued their own accompanying personal statements. In theirs, Bambie Thug said: “I am aware of the calls to withdraw, but stepping back now would mean one less pro-Palestinian voice at the contest.” Speaking to The Journal ahead of the Eurosong contest in January, Bambie Thug had said that Israel should be cut from the contest.
Even the additional statements, however, have proved divisive at best. They have been widely shared across social media. There are some who have expressed support for the statement, but a cursory perusal suggests that many of these people think of little else besides Eurovision.
Most damning was the statement published by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. While the group welcomed “the refusal of the nine contestants to stay silent,” it offered a withering view of their collective decision to remain in the competition.
“Feigning symbolic gestures of support while dismissing the call of the oppressed reflects a patronising and colonial attitude on the part of the contestants that is familiar to Palestinians, and many oppressed communities globally,” it read, before calling on all contestants to withdraw.
A tough statement to be sure, but at least someone is being clear about what they mean.
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