Sinn Fein Are Without Ideology

I have no problem with Sinn Féin. Well not in the relation to the war in Northern Ireland anyhow. In fact I have great respect for their will—in the face of constant propaganda from the safety of middle Ireland. The right wing government controlled media have accused them of all sorts of wrong doings. From abduction and murder to a stealth like agenda to unite Ireland.


Martin Mc Guinness and Gerry Adams were both victims of the ranting middle Ireland during recent elections. I admire the way they stood their ground—and refused to cave in, under the relentless lies and dubious accusations thrown at them.
Sinn Féin have assembled some smart performers,with the likes of Mary Lou Mc Donald—and Pearse Doherty—leading the charge against the government.


Of course the Shinners are nothing if not pragmatic—in a valiant effort to deflect from the frowns of the middle-classes they have positioned themselves left of centre. Well left of centre-ish. In doing this they have stolen some of the Labour party—trade union ground, by adopting positions against stealth taxes etc.
Thus their activists are very visible against the household charge.



All well and good. The frightened safe players of middle-Ireland probably see them as dangerous and radical. I can now reassure the people who get out of bed and work very hard for their comforts—that they have nothing to worry about.
The pragmatic Sinn Féin is capable of aligning itself to any ideology. So don’t be surprised if they end up in coalition with FF or FG—down the line.


The problem I have with Sinn Féin is in they don’t have a position. I have often accused FF and FG of hiding their ideology. In Sinn Féin’s case they just don’t have an ideology—outside of some vague notion of a politically correct united Ireland.
The Shinners are about as left as the Labour party. They buy into capitalism and our undemocratic systems. Their vision of a New Ireland is as flawed as the centre-right wing parties they squabble with.


For a party that waves the republican flag—where did they inherit their mandate. Was it from Pádraig Pearse? Or Michael Collins? It wasn’t from James Connolly that’s a certainty. Connolly was a Marxist not a republican. There are no Marxists in Sinn Fein or even interpreters of socialism to suit modern culture. So who are they really then and what are they looking for?



Recent history and the bitter war in the north—show’s us that the Republican movement split into different factions. We had the INLA, and their political wing the IRSP. Also now there are dissident Republicans! The IRSP are still active on community issues—their ideology is inherited from James Connolly. Their aim is for a 32 county socialist Republic.


Sinn Féin however after the Good Friday agreement was a party with a mandate—but without any sense of ideology. So they came south and found that none of parties in Dail Eireann had an ideology either. If they had any inkling of ideology, they didn’t want the electorate to know. This left a common shared ideology, enslavement to capitalism.


When Mary Lou—or Pearse Doherty go on television—they will complain about the bond holders, household charges etc—but they never mention ideology. Sinn Féin do capitalism they may advocate a softer version of it—but like the Labour party when in power you grip it tightly with both hands.



So watch this space, for all those who yearn for social justice, don’t expect the Shinners to provide it. The people with ideology like Clare Daly—Joe Higgins, you know them the cloud Cuckoo crowd, are not there in sufficient numbers to save the poor and disabled. Maybe we should give the IRSP a call?

Capitalism is a failed ideology

There are many misconceptions about politics and the current state of the world. When one eavesdrops on twitter commentary it is hard not to smile. I didn’t need to watch the Vincent Browne show last night. From the twitter timeline it was obviously a discussion regarding property tax and other matters of finance.

Funny isn’t it how we have all become dazzled by the economy above all else. The right wing controlled media have managed to keep the economy at the top of the pile. So much so –that it is now obvious that many people feel they are citizens of an economy rather than a nation.

The neoliberal spin is good and non-stop 24hrs a day. Yet for all its might this ideology has one fatal flaw, it doesn’t actually work. Alright it does work for some people. But they are usually super wealthy or belonging to some high powered multinational enterprise. It doesn’t work for the vast majority of us.

Neo-liberalism has been central to our political system since the foundation of the state. Indeed it was most likely a condition under which we secured our statehood. We declared as a neo-liberal colony of the United States and Great Britain.

Thus we have given away our natural resources, oil and gas, and of course our massive fishing industry as been rendered unproductive. We have suffered under corrupt political regimes, and we were the victims of the heinous Catholic Church.
After our most recent capitalist tragedy, whereby the citizen is flogged with austerity to pay off bank gambling debt, did anything change?


No surprisingly nothing. People are still twisted against any real alternative—especially any brand of socialism. The spin is that socialism is grey and uniform. Business and entrepreneurs would not thrive. We in Ireland are too small and we would be shunned by our customers abroad.


Socialism is not anti-business! The difference between the capitalist ideology and the socialist thesis is essentially about control. Under capitalism the individual is feted for success. Under socialism all progress is guided by the citizen for the citizen. We are born into the collective of citizenship—nationhood. Our citizens enjoy a free world class health care system—from the cradle to the grave. Also we enjoy a free world class education system at all levels. We provide the infrastructure for economic growth.


In return the citizen works for the collective. Take an entrepreneur with a sound business proposal. The enterprise would be funded by his fellow citizens. If it proceeds and it is successful. Our entrepreneur will pay his just rate of tax and his company would pay a profits tax. Depending on the scale of the business this entrepreneur may become very rich. Yet all is fair and equitable for all parties, and the state is rewarded as it should be.


However us citizens would have reclaimed our natural resources creating huge wealth alongside of creating indigenous industry. We have a huge food processing potential, alongside of farming and fisheries. Socialism is not grey uniforms but a radical way of reforming our nation. Protecting our citizens and creating wealth, so as to be no longer slaves to the capitalist markets.


People talk of cloud Cuckoo ideology. These are apologists for a failed system that has never worked for all the citizens of a nation. Wherever you go in the world and witness strife. It is caused by the excesses of capitalism.


So the next time twitter people complain bitterly about property tax or stealth taxes—take a look at the ideology of the parties in power. Individuals are not the creators of policy—ideology is!