From: "Karl Carlile" <joseph-AT-indigo.ie>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 21:51:02 +0000
Subject: Ireand and the general election.......


KARL CARLILE: A general election in the Irish republic has just
taken place. The outcome has been a hung Dail with no party or
combination of parties gaining an outright majority. The third and
fourth largest parties experienced a collapse in their vote each
respectively is respectively on the Right and Left. There has been an
increase in independent representatives. Sinn Fein have taken one
seat. Turnout has been lower than before notwithstanding  a
lengthening of the polling time.

Despite the multiplicity of analyses from so called experts in the
context of the tranformation of the political character of the masses
the results of the election indicate no shift in the politics of the
working class. A swing away from Labour indicates no change of
political significance among the working class. The Labour Party,
Democratic Left, the Green Party, the Socialist Party and Sinn Fein
are essentially identical politically. At most they merely differ in
degree. Consequnetly a swing for or against any of the above or
combination of the above is not necessarily an expression of any
significant political shift in the political consciousness of the
working masses.

The low turnout indicates an increasing indifference and even cynicsm
towards both elections and the prevailing bourgeois politics. However
an increasing and high rate of abstnetion from the voting process is
not necessarily an expression of increasing politicisation within the
Republic's population. If anyhting it indicates increasing alienation
from politics as a whole.

If anything the most political significant aspect to the general
election is the apparently gorwing apathy or cynicism towards the
prevailing politics. This may be significant since it indicates a
growing politically undeveloped element that may fin appeal in
neo-fascist politics.

                                          Karl


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