For a long time, the primary way the Irish Diaspora has contributed to Ireland is financially. Be it either on visits home or money sent to relatives, this form of hidden investment into Ireland has certainly been of great benefit to Ireland down through the years. However, outside of one event held in Farmleigh a number of years ago there has been little done in the way of harnessing ideas from our people overseas. Many European countries already have votes and dedicated seats for their Diaspora so why not us. Having moved abroad myself a few years ago I initially allowed my political involvement to marginally diminish, reverting to the role of an on-line activist. However, as Otto Van Habsburg noted, “Once you have tasted the opium of politics, you never get rid of it.”

So I began to travel home for meetings, events and canvass as much as I could and immediately felt more connected with my country as a result. In talking to other members and non-members of the party in London it became apparent that this feeling and sentiment was not unique to me. Irish people, both new to these shores and here for much longer periods of time, still take an active interest in Irish politics and have a longing to see the country they left prosper. Some do so for the benefit of loved ones left behind, some so that conditions will allow for their own return. The idea to form our own cumann in London came about in order to give ourselves a structured means of discussing ideas and policies members feel may have a positive application in Ireland. It also allows us as a party to interact more with the Irish community here. Through this we have helped campaigns on community welfare projects in the Irish Community in the UK. Through the Federation of Irish societies and the All Party Parliamentary Group in Westminster, cumann members have engaged with politicians from both islands and groups representing Irish emigrants on a number of issues including the “Fresh Perspectives” report on health issues in the community as well as the issue of Diaspora voting.

With the last point in mind, the upcoming referendum on the future of the Seanad gives us an opportunity to demonstrate that Fianna Fáil is the true party of reform in this country. From Bunreacht na hÉireann to free secondary education right up to Civil Partnerships and our Constitutional Convention representatives this weekend confirming the party position in calling for Same-Sex marriage, Fianna Fáil has always been about progressive change in our society in keeping with our core Republican ethos. We have consistently been a party of the people; all the people. We can show, via the Seanad debate, that when we say that, we mean all Irish people, regardless of whether they are living in the State or not. The Seanad Abolition referendum is a simple power grab by the Cabinet dressed up as reform. They are using the cost saving argument to try con the public that have sacrificed so much during these austere times to now sacrifice their democracy as well. It’s clear the Seanad does not work in its current form but by reforming it we could have a much better democracy that works for the people. Ógra, at the Youth Conference in Sligo, endorsed a reform proposal I wrote that would bridge many of the legislative gaps in our government however it would also give direct representation to our Diaspora and people in Northern Ireland too. A copy of same can be found at this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/130503759/Ogra-Fianna-Fail-Seanad-Reform-Proposal

In allowing more Irish people engage with the political process you will invigorate more of them to contribute. Giving the Diaspora a vote will achieve this. The Seanad, given its relationship with “Money Bills”, negates the argument of ‘no representation without taxation’. Regardless though of whether we defeat the Government’s cynical referendum or not we as a party should look more to our Diaspora. The lessons learned from the establishment of cumainn in London and in Brussels and their great achievements to date can be applied in places like Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Fine Gael and Labour promised prior to the 2011 general election that this generation of emigrant would not become a “forgotten generation” however these have proven since to be hollow words indeed. The Diaspora want to be listened to and want a voice that will speak for them in the Oireachtas. We should step up to the plate of a Republican party of all the people and be that voice, be there to listen. The Irish Diaspora are among the most active in their adopted communities around the world. That’s an energy that should be harnessed for the good of Ireland also.

The Taoiseach brought his happy go lucky ‘sure isn’t all going to be alright’ routine on to national airwaves last Sunday to proclaim his confidence that Ireland would secure a significant bank debt deal.

Now, the Taoiseach reminds me of Mrs Thatcher’s Parliamentary Private Secretary Peter Morrison during the leadership challenge against the PM. Morrison told anyone that would listen that the figures were all in his little black book, all was ok and that the PM was going to win a comfortable victory in the first round and to stop panicking. His confidence was as misplaced as the Taoiseach’s is today.

Now, barely 48 hours later his confidence has been exposed by the EU commission . The two page proposal by the commission would make countries that can afford to inject their own national funds into the banks to do so before the European Stability Mechanism stumps up any cash.

Indeed in a further blow to Mr Kenny the Commission proposes to make those can’t pay to ‘indemnify the ESM for any loss’.

This shows that the grand bargain that Kenny has promised so confidently to the Irish people is unlikely . It makes even more improbable that Ireland will get significant relief on the 64 billion swallowed by the banks. A small scale deal is still feasible but it would fall well short of the potential deal spun by the Taoiseach for the last 18 months.

Now either Mr Kenny is deliberately misleading the Irish people or he is out of depth? Either way he needs to stop talking and start delivering for Ireland.

The party is now the most popular party in Dublin and has regained some valuable ground in the crucial 18-34 cohort of voters.

Now is not the time to be lazy but to push on. FF must focus on developing a clear coherent alternative policy platform that will further restore the party’s economic credibility.

It would be easy for FF to fall into SF style opposition politics opposing everything while proposing nothing workable or economically viable.

Cheap and easy calls for stimulus , higher taxes and more state spending must be countered by FF.

The party must empower and reward SME’s. The problem with this economy is not lack of state intervention but too much state intervention that is combining with austerity to choke the economy.

I believe Fianna Fáil must advocate ‘growsterity’ which combines implementing policies that reduce our debt burden, removing the obligations of the bank guarantee while reforming and introducing a new lower but broader tax base.

People need money in their pockets. The domestic economy needs people spending money. Killing them with a mountain of ever rising taxes is the problem not the solution.

FF is poised to recover, the patient has been saved but the hard policy work begins now.

The media coverage of this event was pathetic. The hard news angle of the story (i.e. the facts) were reported but was there any current affairs programmes dedicated to discussing our future role in the EU or indeed what would be the economic consequences of failing to get a deal on bank debt? Answer: No.

I accept that there are great deal of the public who feel that the European Union is a force for good and has had a significant hand in the development of this country but there is also a significant cohort of people on both the left and right of the political spectrum in Ireland that are increasingly worried about the creeping beast that is the European Union. Surely now is the time to discuss where we go from here.

Do the Irish media inform the public that there is a growing number of eurocrats who feel the answer to Europe’s economic woes is greater integration with Brussels and further erosion of hard-fought sovereignty? No.

Indeed it was left to Michael McDowell to inform the Irish people about Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Guy Verhofstadt’s new book For Europe, which argues strongly for moving towards even greater integration and federalisation of the European Union. The Irish media is failing by not creating an environment where debate and diverging opinions are encouraged . It is time to have the debate about Ireland’s future role or whether it even has one. Is it as David Cameron said ‘make up or break up time’.

Equally it is important for citizens to engage with the world of current affairs. The sign of healthy democracy is where intelligent well read conservatives debate the issues with intelligent well read liberals. It may paradoxically take a genuine ideological divide to truly brings us together. Regardless it is time to start the conversation.

This Government, which sought and received a huge mandate to fix the economy has not done so. Fine Gael promised the electorate New Era. They told the people that New Era would create 100,000 jobs. Now this claim was absolute rubbish, Michael Noonan even acknowledged this after taking up the Finance brief from Richard Bruton in opposition.  The promises and talk of 100,000 jobs has suddenly gone very quiet since Fine Gael formed a Government in February 2011.

The Government while turning its back on the New Era pledge of 100,000 jobs is still committed to a Keynesian approach.  It is important to acknowledge that New Era and similar stimulus plans far from having a stimulating effect on the economy actually make things far worse and lead to spread of what is known as “Japanese economic disease”. Fine Gael and Labour are spreading the Japanese Economic Disease to Ireland.

The Japanese economic disease refers to a period of economic stagnation in Japan. Indeed, in Japan the 1990′s and early 2000′s one can see the results of a Keynesian “solution” to an economic situation almost identical to our present situation. The “solution” caused a 15-year (1990–2005) stagnation of the Japanese economy .So what exactly was the Japanese Government’s “solution”?

1. In order to kick-start the economy, the government went on an infrastructure spending binge
2. From 1992 to 1995 they spent ¥65.5 trillion on projects
3. In 1998 they spent another ¥40.6 trillion on spending stimulus.
4. In 1999 they spent another ¥18 trillion in fiscal stimulus.
5. In 2000 they tried another ¥11 trillion spending package.
6. They set up a ¥20 trillion fund to lend directly to businesses (the Financial Investment and Loan Program [FILP]).
7. To try and push money into the system the Bank of Japan and Ministry of Finance bought more than half of  existing government bonds from the private market at a cost of ¥2.22 trillion.
8. Trying monetary policy, they lowered the discount rate from 4.5% in 1991, 3.5% in 1992, 1.75%   1993-1994, to 0.5% 1995-2003.
9. They set up a $524 billion bailout fund in 1998 to buy stock in failing banks or nationalize them.

Don’t the nine steps sound eerily familiar to what you hear from Government ministers every time they are asked a question about how they will get the economy moving?  Tragically don’t the actions taken in Japan look strangely familiar to the actions pursued by this failed Government? The Economist states that

“the Japanese spent about $1 trillion about (¥135 trillion) to cure their financial problems. But the problems lingered, banks remained weak, lending and investment was severely reduced, unemployment was high, government debt went to more than 150% of GDP, and the yen devalued.”

Now one would hope that someone in the Department of Taoiseach, Department of Finance or even in Fine Gael and Labour HQ has the ability to conduct economic research and look back through economic history before they continue further down this Keynesian route. Sadly it appears like they can’t or won’t.  My hope is that amongst all the advisers, civil servants and indeed Ministers that one, just one, has the ability to enter the term Japanese Economic Disease into Google.

Now for us in Fianna Fáil it is not enough to highlight the Government’s mistakes and shout loudly. We in Fianna Fáil must establish a credible alternative that we can take to the people of Ireland in 2014 and again in 2016. Any future Fianna Fáil recovery must be driven by convictions, ideology and policies that work for the people of Ireland. If we in Fianna Fáil play the same old political games we will not recover.

Now many in the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary party and across the broader membership of the party are arguing for more stimulus investment then the Government is currently proposing. Now I have already at length highlighted why I disagree with this approach. I respect their convictions and their opinions but I strongly believe that increased Government spending is the wrong course for both the party and the country.

I have always believed that people know how to spend their own money better than the Government does. In Ireland today people’s disposable income is down and as a result there spending capacity is greatly reduced. They are understandably focused on having enough to pay bills, mortgages and other essentials.

The majority of Irish people are now working for less, with less job security and far more income levies than they ever imagined they’d have to pay. Therefore as I have already stated they are keeping any income they do have to pay the bills and everything else that is due. In the Ireland of today most people have little or no disposable income.

This is having a direct effect on business up and down the country. These businesses badly need a real stimulus not more Keynesian spending.

The best form of stimulus to the economy is to increase demand and get people back spending money. In order to this they need more money in their pockets. The best way to this; is targeted tax cuts that raises the amount of money in the ordinary citizen’s pocket.

The idea of cutting taxes in Ireland has disappeared from the political and economic debates of the last four years. This is not a great surprise given the perilous state of our national finances and the dictates from successive Governments and the troika that additional revenues are needed. We are constantly told that we need to broaden the tax base and plug the gaps. Now what this really means is increase your taxes.  Instead of raising taxes the Government should engage in real public expenditure cuts and not fat trimming exercises that save little money

Politicians understand that raising taxes is never popular so they rarely want to increase your income tax rates. This allows them to claim that your income tax rates are the same. Yes perhaps but what about the mountains of new levies? They may be called levies but they are a tax on people’s income no matter what way you dress it up.

It is important to acknowledge the mountain of levies and the Keynesian stimulus has not worked. It is therefore legitimate to look for a new way forward. This way is targeted tax cuts.

• Cut the higher rate of income tax by a percentage point.
• Cut the lower rate of income tax by  one and half percentage points
• Cut taxes for women by a further one and half percentage points.
• Women traditionally spend money on a more regular basis than men and this cut would be a huge boost to retail, restaurant and other sectors.
• The combination of spending cuts and tax cuts worked in the late eighties and early 1990’s for Ireland. Haughey’s Government’s expenditure and tax cuts led Ireland out of recession. It will lead to economic recovery once again

Anytime tax cuts come up, people always ask but how do you propose to pay for it? Well I propose to pay for the same way a Fianna Fáil led Government in the late 1980’s did. By actually cutting public expenditure not just trimming fat because the people are more prudent with their money then the Government ever has been or will be. The simple fact is that Governments spends too much money. 75% of Ireland’s debt is non-bank related.

People in Ireland and indeed Europe who stand up and argue for tax cuts are portrayed as crazed right wingers on a crusade. Well yes people like myself are on a crusade, a crusade to restore economic growth.

Politically, it can often be a hard sell because those who benefit most are the people who contribute the most in taxes.  This requires brave leadership to argue that yes the Mercedes man may now have more money but so does the Mazda man.

Fianna Fáil must be the party to provide this leadership; we must show that the Government’s Keynesian policies are not working and that a continuation of them will lead to a situation scarily similar to that of Japan in the late 1990’s. Let’s lead the crusade to get the Government’s hands out of the people’s pockets.

Dara Calleary TD addresses the inaugural meeting of the William Drennan QUB Belfast Cumann in 2007

Today sees the fifth anniversary of the first real signal of intent from Fianna Fáil to organise on a 32 county basis. On 17 September 2007, the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said,

“Only now, with the Northern Executive and Assembly in place. Only now, that we have convinced all but the dissident fringe of nationalism to embrace peace. Only now, that the two great traditions on this island are reconciled, can we take this historic move. To that end, today I am announcing that Fianna Fáil, the Republican Party, will now move to develop a strategy for organising on a thirty-two county basis.”

Since his announcement (outside of Ógra’s hugely successful launch in northern universities in 2007) limited room has been permitted by senior elements to allow the advancement of northern development, despite initial huge interest from the Fianna Fáil grassroots, the North’s media and indeed the North’s electorate.  Why is this so? This article is a collaborative effort by many involved in northern development over the years and seeks to detail the story so far to inform the general grassroots, and indeed what must occur to ensure Fianna Fáil can remain the foremost Republican Party on this island in 2016.

The thesis entitled ‘Fianna Fáil and Northern Nationalism’ by Ciarán McFeely, a Derry native, explores the early history of Fianna Fáil’s interaction with northern nationalism. While a truly fascinating and educating reading on the subject that explains much of the context for the modern day demand for an all-Ireland mainstream Republican Party, this article will focus on recent developments.

This first real utterances regarding northern organisation were as far back as the 2002 Ard Fheis, where a motion was passed calling on the party to organize and contest elections on a 32 county basis. This proposal largely fell on deaf ears and a sceptical media, stating that such a move into northern politics was premature, would destabilise the nascent emergence of normalised politics in the North, and cause discomfort to unionists. Little did these same commentators realise that in 10 years time not only was unionism prepared to work with those of a 32 county persuasion in the North, but that it was prepared to indeed work closely with former militants Sinn Féin to administer the North’s affairs. Such was the cautiousness at the time that the matter was pretty much extinguished within the Party. This was also aided by powerful elements within FF that had a long time close relationship with the SDLP, that wished to aid the preservation of the SDLP as the defacto implementer of northern policy agreed by a cross-party consensus of the southern establishment.

Had it not been for more radical external voices such as Noel Whelan in 2003 advocating that Fianna Fáil should embrace an all-Ireland outlook, as well from northern nationalist commentators such as Tom Kelly and Brian Feeney, the issue would have probably disappeared for some time to come. And indeed, between 2003 and 2006, apart from the odd rumour of an inevitable SDLP-FF merger, that was the case within FF.  Indeed, the only major comments from political figures with regard to FF organising north of the border came from the SDLP side, when in 2004 PJ Bradley MLA stated the following in the Irish News after speculation linking with him wishing to run for election as a FF MLA:

” I could envisage major political realignments which might include a Fianna Fail/SDLP axis at some point.”

In 2003 the then leader of the SDLP Mark Durkan, also spoke of the SDLP’s “affinity” with Fianna Fail. However, due to internal strife in the SDLP with regard to the SDLP’s growing post-nationalism, and indeed a Fianna Fáil-Labour split amongst many of it’s public representatives and senior members, things were about to change. Durkan was increasingly seen to have a close relationship with the relatively new Irish Labour leader Pat Rabbitte. The internal Fianna Fáil-Labour split culminated in the SDLP vice chairperson Eddie Espie and former Vice-Chairperson of the SDLP party, executive member and youngest ever Belfast councillor Martin Morgan, leaving the SDLP.

Mr Espie and Mr Morgan then called on Fianna Fáil to organise in the North. This was actively encouraged by aspects of the Fianna Fáil grassroots, and indeed some senior Fianna Fáil party members at the time sympathetic to the idea of an all-island Fianna Fáil. Largely utilising northern media outlets to advance their call, and indeed meeting with Fianna Fáil units in the Republic, their requests fell on deaf ears amongst the “powers that be” in Fianna Fáil. Frustration with the lack of movement within Fianna Fáil culminated in 2006 with an unfruitful attempt to create a defacto northern Fianna Fáil organisation that ultimately failed to materialise.

It was then realised that change must come about within Fianna Fáil in order to achieve the aim of an an-island mainstream Republican Party.  Around the same time things within Fianna Fáil’s youth wing began to change, partly due the more pronounced commitment to the core principles and traditional ideology amongst the youth of the Party. There is also no doubt that Espie and Morgan’s calls in the media and long time Fianna Fáil supporters in Derry creating an unofficial De Valera cumann in the city had an influence on the youth wing at the time.  The youth of Fianna Fáil, free from the cautiousness that consumed many older party stalwarts at the time with regard to the North and encouraged by the normalisation of the political system in the North, began to devise a strategy to expand Fianna Fáil’s youth wing into a 32 county entity. Coupled with a new influx of early new individual membership recruits from the North into the young wing, they set out to promote the issue across the grassroots of the party and lobby the party’s parliamentary party to allow them to recruitment in the North. Successive Leas Cathaoirligh of Ógra Fianna Fáil from 2003 onwards had brought the issue to the fore in their campaigns, and finally in 2007 the leadership finally agreed to permit Ógra Fianna Fáil recruit in northern universities.

The then FF leader then gave his aforementioned speech in the run up to the recruitment, which gave a great bounce and buoyed the youth wing to make their initiative a success. This proved to be the case. Fianna Fáil outrecruited the SDLP in both QUB and UU campuses, and indeed outrecruited SF in UU Magee and matched them in QUB. In the space of 2 days, Ógra Fianna Fáil had recruited 150 new members to Fianna Fáil in the North. The omens were good for the future.

To be continued…

Those who argue in its favour never point to what is in the deal; they instead argue that the price of reform is industrial war. They argue that reform will result in widespread industrial action that will ultimately damage the economy further.

This is greatest load of tosh that I have ever heard. The hard cold facts are simple- since the agreement was ratified by a majority of the Trade Union movement in June 2010; the fiscal situation in this country has gotten considerably worse.

The projected growth figures have fallen well short, mortgage defaults continue at pace, unemployment is still rife and for good measure the country is now in a bailout programme and is still saddled with the legacy of the bank guarantee. If these are the results of industrial peace then give me industrial war any day of the week.

The Government should have, as we in Fianna Fáil should have had, the courage to take not a knife to this agreement but a sledgehammer, we erred badly in being sucked in to negotiations with the unions at time when the public sector badly needed reform. The urgent need for reform remains as pertinent today as it was in 2010. If only the Government could extricate itself from this agreement.

Well surprise, surprise they actually can. As has been pointed out numerous times in the media the Croke Park Agreement contains clause 1.28 which states “the implementation of this agreement is subject to no currently unforeseen budgetary deterioration.”

As I have already pointed out things today are worse today than when the agreement was negotiated in 2009 and approved in June 2010. It is clear that the Government has the perfect escape clause so why not use it?

The answer is simple this Government like administrations is afraid to take the Trade Unions on. The Labour Party is in hock to the Trade Union movement and is terrified that any reform will lead to industrial action that will cost the Labour Party votes.

Fine Gael, the largest of the coalition parties, has no plan and has to date provided the country with weak leadership. They have no interest in tackling the big issues because it is their view that will threaten their chances of re-election in 2016.

It is clear that the Taoiseach is clearly enjoying the social/meet and great aspect of his job. Sadly for the Irish people when it comes to the substantive part of his job, he is out of his depth. The EU and the ECB has run rings around him abroad and at home he has failed to lead the Government along on a coherent policy path.

The Minister Frances Fitzgerald practically admitted that the unwillingness on Fine Gael’s part to reform Croke Park is because of potential industrial strife with the Unions. It is clear that we in Fianna Fáil must step forward; it is our time to demonstrate real leadership.

Now, we in Fianna Fáil know only too well about the Union’s bully boy tactics. They threatened to bring the Cowen Government down by engaging in a go slow campaign that would have brought the country to its knees. The sad thing is that we had no one to blame but ourselves because we gave them a seat at the top table by engaging in the social partnership with them.

We in Fianna Fail now have a moral responsibility to lead the charge to dismantle this odious agreement. We have moral responsibility because it was us along with the unions that put it in place.

The facts are clear; contrary to popular belief the Croke Park agreement does not protect the ordinary and venerable workers in the public sector. It actually protects those on the largest salaries in the public sector. It protects layers of bureaucracy at the expense of front line services.

We must have the courage to be honest with the people, present the facts to them and explain that the country can no longer go on borrowing 1 billion ever month to keep public services running and to facilitate the payment of increments that are protected by the Croke Park Agreement.

The public will reward the party that has the courage to challenge the power of the trade unions and dismantle the Croke Park Agreement. They will reward the party that has the vision to tackle the big problems in this country. They will not reward any party that tries to play the same old political games one more time.

We have to dismantle this agreement because it only protects inefficacies in the public sector and those in it who waste the public’s money. The time has come for our party to articulate a position that puts the economic welfare of the country and its citizens before powerful trade unions.

The revolutionary generation that founded this party were great men. They were radicals unafraid of reform and willing to embrace change. It is time for our generation in Fianna Fáil to embrace change.

Shall Fianna Fáil evoke the spirit of it's forefathers, or forge a new path?

Now that the campaign for the FCT is in its final days, at the end of this process we will see whether the efforts of Fianna Fáil canvassers up and down the country will have resonated with the electorate, and indeed with traditional Fianna Fáil supporters. We have seen public and internal debate on our own party’s position on Europe, which was a healthy sign that the Fianna Fáil party is still very much alive and kicking in terms of policy debate and internal democracy. In the end, majority ruled, and those on the other side of the debate have done the honourable thing and accepted that decision, and are still very much an active part of Fianna Fáil. The one thing that seems to unite all sides is that keeping a tighter control on spending is a positive thing – to write it into the Constitution was an issue.

However, after this treaty, a situation may arise that may propose further European integration in return for Eurobonds, tax harmonisation or indeed federalisation of debt. This will yet again bring the debate on Europe to the fore. Fianna Fáil will have to search deep within it’s soul to find guiding principles from it’s own history and indeed forefathers to ensure that it follows the traditions of the party.

The party’s traditions are best encapsulated within the Fianna Fáil constitution. The most relevant passage of this constitution is article 7:

(vii) To maintain the status of Ireland as a sovereign State, as a full member of the European Union and the United Nations, contributing to peace, disarmament and development on the basis of Ireland’s independent foreign policy tradition.

This is where the problem arises – if maximising Ireland’s sovereignty and remaining a “full member” of the EU would indeed be contradictory if proposals for a Federal Europe were to arise. Obviously Ireland has needed to cede some small aspect of its sovereignty in order to be part of the UN and the EU, however when does the tipping point arise? Surely when economic sovereignty is compromised, or is there a new post-nationalist approach evolving across Europe? Or, will there inevitably be a 2 speed Europe, where Ireland can retain membership of the Euro but without the increased integration of Federalism?

As the Fianna Fáil constitution does not seem to give an adequate answer in this regard, we need to assess the comments of the Fianna Fáil party leaders. Fianna Fáil party founder Éamon De Valera stated the following  after a meeting in Strasbourg prior to the treaty of Rome:

“We have always realised that we are one nation and that, as far as physical resources were concerned, our resources were not great. We also realise that, small as were our physical resources, there were spiritual ones which were of great value; and we never doubted that our nation, though a small one, in the material sense, could play a very important part in international affairs. In a Council of Europe it would have been unwise for our people to enter into a political federation which would mean that you had a European parliament deciding the economic circumstances, for example, of our life.

For economic and other reasons we had refused to be satisfied with a representative of, say, one in six, as was our representative in the British parliament. Our representative in the European Assembly was, I think, something like four out of 120. That is, instead of being out-voted on matters that we would have regarded as important interests to us by five or six to one, we would have been out-voted by 30 or 40 to one.

We did not strive to get out of that domination [British] of our affairs by outside force, or we did not get out of that position to get into a worse one.”

De Valera’s comments seem to indicate he would be against the idea of a Federal Europe. The second leader of Fianna Fáil, Seán Lemass, seems a little more relaxed in relation to European Integration, but also stops short of being in favour of federalism. According to this article by Ronan Fanning, in July 1962  in an interview with The New York Times, Lemass stated that Ireland was

“prepared to go into this integrated Europe without any reservations as to how far this will take us in the field of foreign policy and defence”.

However, as Bruce Arnold points out, the only indication is that Lemass was in favour of increased integration in relation to foreign policy and defence. Indeed it would be hard to see how a man like Lemass that had fought for political and economic indepenendence from the UK could then within 50 years embrace federal economic and fiscal integration.

Fianna Fáil will certainly be engaging in some soul searching over the coming months and years in relation to this pivotal issue that faces our Nation, however we must balance the legacy of our forefathers with today’s realities. Fianna Fáil is a pragmatic party, but can we be pragmatic about such a core issue?

Legionoftherearguard.com started at the end of November 2010, when some Fianna Fáil members decided that a new independent grassroots voice was needed to communicate the views of the Fianna Fáil rank and file.  Since then this website has allowed invidividual expression for many on the future of Fianna Fáil, Republicanism, and Ireland in general. Remember, this site is not a site merely guided by a few, it is guided by the many bloggers and article writers that have submitted material to this site, and the owners of this site have always striven to allow free, open and frank debate on the future direction of Fianna Fáil on this site. All the bloggers on legionoftherearguard.com would like to thank you for reading this site, and indeed continue to keep reading from across the globe into the future.

James McCann

The 2011 Census was published recently in February of this year. I always like looking over census facts from religious to population data looking to gauge what exactly is or previously was the make up of our Island.

The census tells a few million stories in itself really. Although all those included are anonymous, you know for example that the Taoiseach of the day filled in a form telling of his circumstances, famous writers or poets disclosed theirs, your own great grandparents too all those years ago. The census has changed over the years getting more and more detailed as those designing it want an even clearer picture of what Ireland is or becoming. Now for example we get to know how much people earn, the size of their family, married/divorced, medical histories even how they get to work. The big idea being if you know what is happening you can better plan for some of the issues that are occurring or likely to occur in the future.

The 2011 census discovered a few interesting facts of note for concerned citizens.  It found that the population increased between 2006-2011 to 4.59 million, for example. 11% more people now reside in urban areas, the average age of people in Ireland is now 36, unless you live in Fingal where it is only 32. Divorce rates are flying up but there are more people getting married…and remarried. Single people are on the decline but more are living on their own or with a cohabitant.

Ireland is certainly changing, we’re living longer, there are more of us, we’re more likely to be living in urban areas, more of us are getting married/divorced and single people are more likely than ever to have their own pad. What about changes to the family, the traditional Irish institution? How is that changing?

Well, there are now 1.179 million families in Ireland, 12% up on 2006. 834,266 are families with children under 19. 558,682 (67%) of those are husband and wife with children, 60,269 (7.2) are cohabiting couples with children, the remaining 215,215 (25.8%) are lone mothers or fathers with children.

The traditional family unit is seen as arguably the most important element within our society and appears to be holding steady with only a marginal decrease of 2.2% in two parent family units although that figure hides a more stark reality. With the increase in families recorded in the census rising from 1.037m to 1.179m the amount of single parents now stands at 215,215 up from 169,780 or 21.2% since 2006. This means that 25.8% of parents in Ireland today are raising children on their own. In total they are raising 351,996 children or some 21.6% of all children in Ireland which at present stands at 1,625,975.

Unfortunately, single parent families are one of the most at risk groups of experiencing poverty and the fact that single parents are raising over one fifth of all children in the state and make up 1 out of every 4 family units highlights the need to support them. In 2010 the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in their annual Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) found that the mean equivalised disposable income for an adult with children was €15,567 which had thankfully increased since 2009 up from €15,162. That said, the at risk of poverty threshold currently stands at €10,831 which leaves the average single parent family only €4,331 from deprivation.

At present in Ireland the at risk of poverty rate currently stands at 15.8% or roughly 700,000 people some 137,000 of which are children between the ages of 0-17.  When broken down by family type it is clear that single parents and the elderly are most affected with single parents accounting for 20.5% in 2010 of the at risk of poverty rate down it must be said by some 15% from the year previous. This was due according to the CSO ‘as the equivalised income of this group tends to fluctuate around the at risk of poverty threshold from year to year, changes in the threshold can have a disproportionate impact on the at risk of poverty rate of this group.’ In other words there are so many single parents and by extension their children tethering on the risk of poverty that any minor changes can have a big impact.

The at risk of poverty rates are one indicator of poverty but the real impact of poverty can be seen in the deprivation levels experienced by single parents and their children. Indicators such as the inability to afford new clothes, heating, adequate dinners,  replace worn out furniture even the in ability to buy presents for a loved one at least once a year are measured by the CSO to measure deprivation rates. In 2010 deprivation rates stood at 30.2% for children up from 23.5% in 2009, some 49.8% of all lone parents experienced deprivation with 2 or more deprivation factors.

The Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012 recently published by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton is likely to add further pressure on single parents if not break many of their backs. The changes in the bill hit single parents with changes to the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) which will see the maximum qualifying age limit for a parent’s youngest child reduced to 7 from 18 or 22 if the child proceeded to college.

With respect to the changes in the One-Parent Family Payment the reduction of the age limit to 7 for the youngest child will pose a significant challenge to many single parents already struggling to keep out of poverty but for those already at risk these measures could push them under altogether. At €188 a week or €9,776 per annum it will cripple many single parents pushing both themselves but most importantly their children into deep poverty. The objective of the changes according to Minister Burton is to get more single parents back to work as

“long-term welfare dependency and passive income support to people of working age are not in the best interests of the person, of their children or of society.”  “The best route out of poverty and social exclusion is through paid employment” she added.  

Fair enough you might say but this approach does not take into account the reality many single parents face in raising children.

The first challenge and priority for any single parent is providing for their child or children. At present much of the criticism and harsh commentary would suppose that none of the 215,215 single parents in the state do anything to financially support their children. That is untrue, just under 50% of all lone parents work. Close to 10% are unemployed while the remainder are out of the labour force either as full time parents or as full time carers. The reality for single parents seeking employment is the same as everyone else, couples for example, both married and cohabiting with children, with one working partner are coming under increased financial pressure leading to an increase in 2 income family units.

That said the amount of single parents in employment has steadily increased over the last 4 years along with a rise in the number unemployed showing growth in the number of single parents already returning to the labour force (see CSO) as the recession has taken hold. But the reality remains that there are simply not enough jobs to go around a fact Minister Joan Burton has clearly forgot to take into account. Challenges that single parents must overcome in the search for employment is that of childcare and its affordability not to mention the required job flexibility to match school and the childcare arrangements for children age 4 and up if needed. Add to that the difficulty in acquiring a well paid job that fills the income gap now left by Minister Burton’s proposals and the need to up-skill to acquire that decent wage while still trying to raise a child on your own and clearly it is apparent that Minister Burtons proposals are easier said than done.

As I said before the Census tells a few million different stories from people of every walk of life. We can’t pick out one or ten or a thousand cases and look at the individuals who are living the lives we see in the figures to get a feel for some of the challenges they face. But what is clear is that without the support of the OFP many single parents, if not the majority simply won’t be able to cope. It’s not to say that changes cannot be made, of course they can, but 7 is surely too young?  Let’s assume what is likely to be a near best case scenario for a low skilled (which is still another reality) single parent who manages to find work around school times for their child or children between the ages of 8-12.

A child is in school from 9.00am and finishes at 2.30pm until the age of 12 as we all know. For those single parents working minimum wage jobs @8.65 per hour doing a 5 hour shift starting work at 9am in order to drop off the kids and be back by 2.30pm to collect them assuming they work the same shift every week 52 weeks a year they will make €11,245 per annum. Roughly about €1500 above the amount they would be cut which would be a good and i’m sure welcome outcome but again the realities are different. Firstly there is still a steady decline in the number of low skilled workers in employment due to the continued slide in domestic demand so competition is high in low skilled sectors of employment so naturally not all those single parents looking for work will get it. The possibility of single parents getting the required hours to drop off and collect their children without the need or additional cost for childcare is highly unlikely. Where childcare is required for a scenario where the parent is working a minimum wage job the costs (€1k per month is some cases) would out do the benefit especially if the hours of work are outside school hours edging them closer to poverty.

The truth is that Minister Burton’s proposals are not workable and instead of removing ‘welfare dependency’ in the interest of society and the child she will instead impose poverty for the sake of savings which is in neither interest. At 12, children finish school at 4:30pm out of secondary school, they are better able to take care of themselves, get from A to B, make dinner if they have too and its more workable for the parent who can work longer and reduce childcare costs if needed. It’s a more reasonable age, why then 7?

Because it saves more money!

We have 351,996 children being raised by 215,215 single parents in Ireland today. It doesn’t matter how they got there or what age they had their child, they are parents all to one fifth of Ireland’s children at present. They are most at risk of poverty and deprivation, likely low skilled and under paid, some may have support others not. The current Labour Minister for Social Protection is removing nearly €10k per annum from them which they need to support their children from aged 8 upwards in the middle of the biggest economic crisis Ireland has ever had. They struggle to find employment as is, they need to care for their children, her proposals will see the at risk of poverty and consistent poverty rates for children skyrocket.

Are we ok with that?

Lets pay attention to what the figures tell us and do our best to see Minister Burton’s Social Welfare Bill changed to ensure a better outcome for children.