by Ciaran Mulholland (published on Internationalist Standpoint website)
After weeks of negotiation, a new Irish government was formed in February 2025 by the two traditional capitalist parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. As they fell short of the total number of TDs (Teachta Dála-or members of parliament) required to form a majority government after the November 2024 election they will be propped up by eight Regional Independents. The Regional independents are a loose coalition of TDs, mostly from rural areas, all of whom stand on the right of politics, and most of whom were associated with one or other of the large parties in the past.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail together won 43% of the vote in the election, an historic low for the combined support for the two parties. This result, and their dependence on the support of maverick TDs with unpredictable positions on some issues, means that the government is relatively weak and might not see through its full five-year term. As ever in politics however, events will determine whether this is the case, and the turmoil unleashed by the second Trump term may cause severe damage the Irish economic model and mass upheavals in the months and years to come.
Sinn Fein, the largest opposition party before the election, lost momentum and is engaged in a process of reevaluating its tactics and strategy. It is simultaneously talking up the idea of a future left government, built around a possible alliance with the Labour Party, the Social Democrats and the Green Party, and is moving right on immigration, neutrality and other issues.
The left, including the Trotskyist or ex-Trotskyist left, also went backwards in the election, losing three of its existing five seats (though it could be argued that it also gained one with the election of Seamus Healy in Tipperary-see below). Left activists across Europe and globally have been inspired by the electoral success of the Irish far left in recent decades. This success began with one council seat in 1991 and has been sustained over 35 years with peaks and troughs. It is a notable collective achievement but the relative loss of momentum for the far left in the local and general elections in 2024 requires careful analysis, as do its successes and failures over nearly four decades.
It is important that the left’s intervention into electoral politics is understood in its full context-a context that includes the historic weakness of both social democratic and Stalinist currents in Ireland, and an electoral system which is favourable to small parties and independent candidates. A key question is whether there is something exceptional in the Irish situation which means the success of Trotskyist or Trotskyist-derived groups cannot be easily replicated elsewhere or are there generalisable lessons which can be applied widely.
Read the full article HERE.