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Actually, funnily, bizarrely, the last couple of weeks, since I lost my seat, it’s actually… it’s a little bit of a release. It’s kind of hard to describe.
AS A TD, AODHÁN Ó Ríordáin spent the last five years constantly worrying about his seat, then the worst happened.
After an epic count, lasting several days in the RDS last month, the Labour junior minister, like so many of his colleagues across the country, was relieved of his duties by the voters of Dublin Bay North.
It was a rollercoaster of a weekend. Ó Ríordáin and his team thought for some time that he was going to be okay. But he was unseated after failing to secure sufficient transfers in a crowded field of 20 candidates.
It was a dreadful election for Labour and despite that personal release from seat anxiety, it was hard to see so many of his colleagues turfed out by an unforgiving electorate.
Everything Ó Ríordáin believed over the last few years, everything he worked to achieve as a Labour TD and then as a minister of state for new communities, culture equality, and drugs strategy was rejected. It hurts him a lot.
“I am so proud of what we’ve done over the last number of years and I’ve fully committed myself to it and I fully believe in it,” Ó Ríordáin told TheJournal.ie this week.
Then you come to an election where it’s been soundly rejected. It’s soundly rejected by the people and coming to that realisation is pretty harsh.
Ó Ríordáin on what it’s been like since he lost his seat:
“You’re so convinced about something that you join a party, you manage to get yourself elected, you’re involved in it for five years, you’re a minister of state for a period of time, you fully believe in the project and then what you believe in, you get the personal rejection, but you’re [also] roundly rejected.
Everything you’ve been saying for five years has just been absolutely rejected by the people, in the most spectacular way. It’s difficult to pick up the pieces from that.
Labour’s demise was well-flagged. The party, despite its own spin, was on course for a wallop at the polls. But the scale of the collapse was still surprising to many political observers as it won just seven seats, having returned with 37 in 2011.
Ó Ríordáin said it was a strange election, which “was passing people by” even as he and his political colleagues were all busy knocking on doors and arguing on the airwaves. Many voters he encountered were undecided about who to vote for, even as late as the night before going to the ballots.
But the seeds of Labour’s collapse were sown five years ago, he believes. That is a view shared by many commentators who have pointed to the infamous ‘Every Little Hurts’ Tesco ad in the dying days of the 2011 campaign as a point where the party made it promises it would be unable to honour.
[The Tesco ad] just showed the kind of the panic that set in to the campaign in 2011 and then you go from that, I mean, I think there was a massive sense of disappointment in 2011 that we only got 19%, that we only got 37 seats.
“I think there was a sense at the beginning of the campaign that this [was] serious breakthrough territory. This [was] going to be 50 or 60 seats territory for the Labour party. Maybe not 60, but certainly in and around major breakthrough point.
So when we got what we got there was almost a sense of disappointment, and from then on it was as if we were always on the back foot.
As someone who has a keen interest in education, Ó Ríordáin also identified Ruairí Quinn’s decision to sign a USI pledge not to increase student fees during the last election as a promise broken when he became education minister.
“I remember that week. We were all told: ‘Absolutely do not sign, pledge or promise anything because the country is in hoc and we’ve no money.’ When I saw that I thought: ‘What’s he doing that for?’
So, not to blame Ruairi – that was his decision to make in that week but it did kind of give us, as candidates, a sense that there [was] a level of desperation seeping into this campaign here. We thought we were going to do an awful lot better.
During that campaign, there was also ‘Frankfurt’s way or Labour’s way’ – then leader Eamon Gilmore’s infamous insistence that his party would not kowtow to the Troika.
O Ríordáin believes Labour should have made more of the fact that the party raised the minimum wage and protected core social welfare payments, against the will of its EU/IMF paymasters.
“We could have easily presented to people a number of things that Frankfurt wanted that they didn’t get. From the minimum wage, to the €1.7 billion extra in social welfare cuts, the €600 million extra in tax increases that they wanted, the promissory note,” he said.
We could have listed things that Frankfurt wanted that they didn’t get, but we didn’t do it.
He’s reluctant to talk about Alan Kelly’s controversial role in the more recent election campaign.
The Labour deputy leader gave an ill-advised interview to the Sunday Independent in which he said, among other things, that power “is a drug” that suits him. Kelly also faced claims that he verbally attacked Newstalk presenter Chris Donoghue, just one example of how his abrasive style raised many eyebrows.
Kelly has an ego, Ó Ríordáin said, as does everyone in politics (he included himself here). But when pushed on what he really thinks of the outgoing Environment Minister, he had something to say:
Overall, the campaign didn’t do much to enhance Labour’s chances. Ó Ríordáin believes the party’s warning about the consequences of a Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil coalition came too late.
Furthermore, Labour ended up aligned closely to a party that had an “absolutely catastrophic” campaign.
Whatever campaign we had was in some way aligned to that. So from the overreach on USC – which nobody bought – to the €2 billion that they couldn’t find in their figures, to the Michael Lowry thing – which was again a mistake – to the debates, that were okay but not brilliant, to the ‘whingers’ comment.
“It just went from bad to worse and so, while we expected not to do as well as 2011, a bit like the local elections, Fine Gael did an awful lot worse than they were expecting. So we had hitched ourselves, I suppose, to a re-elect the government message.”
Should Labour have apologised for the broken promises in that Tesco ad and others? Would a bit of humility have benefitted the party at the polls? Ó Ríordáin isn’t so sure:
Then you’re making the narrative about apologies and how we haven’t lived up to expectations whereas there was so many things we felt we were doing.
With seven seats and, as it sees it, no mandate to govern, Labour will go into opposition and seek to rebuild.
Ó Ríordáin believes the question over Joan Burton’s leadership doesn’t arise right now as there are so many imponderables about the formation of the next government.
But he seems pretty downbeat about the party’s prospects if a second election was to be called soon. What message can Labour go to the doors with this time around that would entice people to vote for it, he wonders.
It begs the question as to whether the party can survive at all after the worst election in its 104-year history. Ó Ríordáin seemed slightly hesitant when we asked:
A referendum on the Eighth Amendment, which Labour has championed in recent years, will not now happen, Ó Ríordáin believes. He will continue to campaign for it, but sees no prospect of Fine Gael, in a minority government, pursuing the thorny issue of abortion.
“A minority Fine Gael government is not going to open up that can of worms,” he said.
Do you think a minority government, led by Fine Gael, supported or facilitated by Fianna Fáil, is actually going to grasp the thorny nettle of an Eighth Amendment referendum? Not in a million years.
Ó Ríordáin is also worried that the campaign for a living wage of €11.30 is now dead in the water and that the pledge to reduce class sizes to a ratio of 20:1 will fall by the wayside.
His own future may lie in the Seanad if he’s elected next month, but when it comes to the bigger picture, Ó Ríordáin believes that politics is in flux and that centre left politics, a space that Labour likes to occupy, “is in crisis”.
“Centrist politics is certainly in trouble and centre left politics is in crisis. Certainly in Ireland,” he said.
I think I care too much to walk away but… I may be pointed to walk away, or I may have an opportunity to stick around. But look, I think the issues that I care about are too important to walk away from.
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Wanted rid of the Seanad, now trying to win a Seanad seat because he lost his Dail one.
If he’s going to talk about what’s wrong with labour, somebody should hand him a mirror.
So did Padraig McLoughlin. They are all the same.
That’s one of the reasons I voted to get rid of it but oh no, people were mouthing on about reforming the kip. In 70 years noone has ever reformed the seanad and never will.a once in a lifetime chance to shut down this money wasting dump wasted
I wonder if it bothers him that Joan Burton and Alan Kelly managed to hang onto their seats and him and so many of his colleagues got shown the door by voters, largely by the actions and attitude of the two mentioned,, if labour wants to rebuild, first thing the party needs to do is show them two the door……..
We voted and we gave labour or assessment.. Go away ..
@ jane “So did Padraig McLoughlin. They are all the same.”
Sinn Fein wanted reform, in the absence of that option being offered in the referendum, it campaigned for abolition with the intent to create a more inclusive and reformed second house.
A million miles away from the grubby little powergrab attempted by FG/Labour.
What have labour learnt after a bashing at the election?… Nothing it seems as the leader and deputy leader are still there at the helm….
Gordon id say it bothers him greatly.
Unbelievable he says their failure was over a poster five years ago???!!! Labour let a lot of people down. They were voted in to temper FG not cheerlead for them. How about looking at all the promises you broke (water was apparently a redline issue if you can believe that!).
Deborah that’s very true. I can’t understand why they folded under FG so completely.
Maybe because they had to jane, because they were the minority party. It’s easy to canvass and make promises when in opposition, it’s tougher when you are in a coalition and reality sets in.
I didn’t vote for either party – but with the choices now, and when you look at where we were in 2011, we did achieve stability. Which is one thing we don’t have now.
I’m not saying they didn’t stabilise the economy but I think the price in some cases was too high. I’m not talking about IW, that was just a bullshit bandwagon that everyone jumped on but they’ve made a mess of the housing situation and there were some very cruel cuts to certain areas. I don’t understand why at some stage labour didn’t say no, even if that meant pulling out of government.
Classic ;-)
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin gave a deluded assessment of what went wrong, he still doesn’t get it poor fool.
Too right.
We had a decent Labour party in Ireland until these champagne socialists infiltrated the party.
That’s the great pity.
Alan Kelly or Kelly Osbourne I’m not sure which is which, two complete drama queens
The bankers, bondholdes and bankrupt developers did better under Labour than Mary and Joe Soap, that’s where it all went so horribly wrong.
Ah the banker, bond holders do not have a vote. Appointing Marie Cahill to the Seanad ahead of all Irish people who hold a passport for Ireland unlike Marie Cahill and were not members of the Ira like Marie Cahill was the most pathetic thing Labour done to get one up on Sine Fein while labour were being used and laughed at by Fine Gael the party of PR for the elite.
Take the message labour the Irish people do not want you.
The Labour party sold their soul to FG in 2011 and paid the price in 2016 for betraying their roots.
Traitors. That’s why you got dumped.
Eircode a fine example od that treachery…
Aodhan & Company still living in denial it seems…
He’s probably not the worst of them.
None of the important issues labour tried to own have gone away and without a Labour Party supporting Tory policy’s these issues will be addressed. Labour lost the local elections, filled seats on state boards six months before they became advailable and ran around empty streets in the dark during the election. Media outlets showed them visiting schools because children would not ask why a homeless crisis was allowed to escalate into a nightmare for so many family’s, a health care crisis making a 9 hours waiting time for a&e an improvement, a planning enquiry stopped, whistleblowers silenced and a leader who promised reform but admitted he personally championed cronyism. the unions where the only winners but then again they put money in every labour deputies pocket. All the Labour Party is left with, is a joke for a leader, a power junkie as a deputy leader and a couple of lucky bast@rds to even get a voice in the next dail. The working man has spoken now F off you champagne socialist and cry your craocodile tears on your own time.
Still talking like he was in an ivory tower
”What message can Labour go to the doors with this time around that would entice people to vote for it, he wonders.”
What does it matter what promises any of these pathological lying parasites who bleed us dry come to our doors with? It is all BS and lies anyway. You need a better gimmick next time Amadan. Johnny Giles didn’t do the business for you, time to call Peter Andres agent. No doubt you have enough of our money squirreled away to afford his fee.
And no mention of Irish water, the straw that broke the camels back, the brutal assessment doesn’t go far enough.
he didnt get it when elected,,he didnt get it while in office and he still doesnt get it,,,good riddance
All wise after the event – but leading up to the election they insisted they were in the right and would do well. Breathtaking arrogance AND stupidity
D.ickhead…. With a Capitol D…… Blaming everyone but himself… Labour sold out big time …. Traitors ….
Why is this guy still being given access to the public airways?
Saw Averil Power on Vincent Browne last night still banging on about her ‘achievements’ as a senator.
Two chancers who surfed the wave of political correctness at the expense of more important matters of public concern.
And it backfired badly.
The people have spoken.
Get lost.
How come Hugh never asked him about going for the Senate,Even though he and his party campaigned for the abolition of it.
Because Hugh is a blueshirt and they just spent 5 years doing everything the blueshirts told them to do.
He is a fake, looking to the Senate gravy train even though he was rejected by the people. He has no integrity.
Isn’t this the joker who insisted that we take in around 4000 “refugees” then said that number might rise to around 20,000 possibly more and if you didn’t agree with him it’s because you are islamaphobic?
Yes, one and the same
Man oh man – he still doesn’t get it even if they kept basic social welfare payments and min wage the same the cost of everything plus water bills etc +23% vat all went through the roof – media backed spoofer and now Varaker backs another rejected Indo girl if I don’t like it I cry foul – we are not a stupid electorate we got rid of these 2 for good reasons now buzz off and take varadker with you
So he lost his job like thousands of others do but for him it’s a calamity and we should all stop what we’re doing and pay homage to his greatness. I don’t understand why we have such a fixation on these people, they’re like the Irish version of the fixation the English have with the royal family.
With The Lie’s & Let Down’s Of Him & His Party
He Got A Kick In The Ball-Ox He Deserver’s ….
.
F.ck Them Across The Water
“Centrist politics is certainly in trouble and centre left politics is in crisis. Certainly in Ireland,” he said.
Does he still think his party are representative of the centre left? The AAA and PBP are more centrist than his right wing party!
Think about it. There is a party called the “Labour Party”. That would suggest that it is a Party espousing pro labour policies. Instead, the actual policies supported by the Labour Party are strong neo-liberal and pro capital policies. There is too much dissonance in that.
The new name of the Labour Party might be “The Party formerly known as the Labour Party” .
Didn’t say much why Labour did so badly. Maybe it hasn’t dawned on him and Labour that they have no business in coalition with Fine Gael.
We keep hearing FF/FG are one and the same. I think it should be FF/FG/Labour are one and the same. Labour behaved more like right of centre than any of the others.
The Party some of us voted for and believed in sold out its core values and failed its supporters..end of. If i failed miserably in my job I’d be sacked. No cushy pay off or a chance to join another gravy train. I’m sorry ex-minister, I have zero sympathy for you or your party.
Good riddence to them all
AODHÁN Ó Ríordáin totally politically correct dangerous politician
Perhaps the experience of failure might take away some of his certainty.
A Social Justice Warrior – good riddance!
Trough seeker and nothing more. Typical Liebour..
So long aodhan. I would like to tell you what i really think but my comments keep getting caught in the language filter.. W@nker
I agree for Connolly but on the other hand he pushed the bully campaigner Higgins to the waste side so that’s a bit of good news but would love to know will they be sticking with the dissident ms Cahill
Amazing that he is only now coming to realise that the outrageous false promises made before the previous election were a huge mistake, when most of us knew within a few days of the last election that they would come back to haunt labour.
He does not realize that you can cod some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time any body that does know that show a very small level of intelligence
A is this the same man who was calling for the Seanad to be abolished ? And what about the privatisation of Irish water ? And the water tax the played a huge part in the destruction of the so called Labour Party . And if he’s really stuck for the start he always has Jobs bridge .
Emma, he. Also wanted the state to collude in the drug crime wave, providing cumfy drug dens complete with Medicare ???
Denis, the supervised injection centres he proposed were an excellent idea which would have saved many lives of those most vulnerable in society.
O’Riordans position on the failed drug policy was progressive and welcome.
Unfortunately his online censorship proposals tipped the balance against him.
I wonder where his sympathies lie following todays “tragedy” in brussels…..is he upset that the suicide bombers didnt survive?
You turned your back on the people the party was founded to protect, that’s what went wrong, and then throw in the power addict on top of that.
Sell Outs
It’s crazy that he lost his seat and still gets paid as a minister . Kenny or the dail should have to appoint a temporary replacement while the government is in transition.
He had some very progressive, sensible ideas.
He supported Labour policies in government. (and Fine Gael)
A patronising, arrogant, bullish elective dictatorship riding roughshod over the citizens of this republic all the while deluding themselves that their political future in government was a certainty coz nobody wanted the Fianna Fail bogeymen back in power.
Now look.
Reality bit him in the Aras.
Say what you like but the country is in a much better shape now than it was when FG+Lab took power. The people that voted FF in this election are beyond help. Absolute dullards.
Indeed Oisin, I would say all those homeless families would agree with you, they are all in better shape under a FG-Traitor party government.
Been to an A+E lately Oisin?
Quite a lot of people lost everything including their homes, family, jobs, even lives after the last FF government. To claim that the country isn’t in a better shape now than it was in 2010/2011 is simply false Les.
And you believe it’s all down to Enda/Eamon and Joan do you? Ireland is the only country that is better shape since 2011? This would be the same lot when in opposition criticized FF because they weren’t spending more. If you believe FG/Labour would have done differently if they were in power at that time, then you are fooling yourself.
I don’t blame you Oisin, you just seem to be caught under this false impression that there is a difference between FG and FF, you’re obviously not alone. Corruption, cronyism, expensive quangos, still seems the same to me.
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin it was Michael Noonan lost you the Election.
You have a very shallow understanding of why Gov was rejected in Election 2106.
You failed to understand the difference between Regressive and Progressive taxes.
Regressive Taxes are those not related to ability to pay, provide no exemptions, fail to allow for appeal AND Revenue can take the tax from people’s pay, pensions and also from their Medical Expenses refunds …. yeah Aodhán .. you didnt notice that one!)
- LPT … at your peril pretend there is acceptance of this tax which is regressive and hated. Italy abolished its LPT on Family Homes in 2015
- Car Tax .. the most regressive car tax in EU . ignored. €710 p.a v €280 p.a for those who can afford new cars.
(Labour voters subsidising the Car Tax and Water Tax of the wealthy … ignored completely by Labour&FG.)
https://www.change.org/p/unfair-car-tax-law/dashboard
- Water Tax … water is essential to life like food, air, “childrens shoes” … get it Aodhán
- IT .. now abolished in Sweden and other EU countries … an odious law.
- FTT ( now there is a progressive tax on the banks ignored by Labour) introduced in 11 other EU countries.
Progressive, fair, appropriate (not on essentials to life), moderate taxes acceptable to fund public services. Noonan lost you the Election.
So get your self a dictionary and understand the difference between regressive and progressive taxes and then you may find “stability” in your political life and system. Until this is clearly understood by politicians be prepared for instability.
Aodhán .. all politics is local … and there is nothing more local than peoples wallets. Michael Noonan lost you the Election with odious hated disgraceful regressive taxes … LPT, Car Tax, WT, IT ….
Progressive, appropriate, fair and moderate taxes to fund public services. Labour must have listened to “Economists” ….. not the sharpest knives in the drawer as we all well know!
Forget about your focus groups …
“View all comments” on this site from ordinary Irish voters about your odious taxes:-
https://www.change.org/p/unfair-car-tax-law
If people really wanted Labour to do what it promised to do in 2011 then the people would have given Labour a mandate to do it. The reality is that the people gave a greater mandate to FG. So blaming Labour for everything and not giving them a sufficient mandate to do anything sounds a bit ridiculous.
HA HA every little helps ha ha
Always had an admiration for politicians that would stick their heads above the parapets on controversial issues like refugees & drug policy rather than trying to be all things to all people to all people.Was glad to see labour get hit hard, but thinks it’s harsh for people to put O Riordain in the same category as egotistical me feiners like Alan Kelly, Pat Rabbitte & Ruairi Quinn
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