30.10.2008
No longer the Celtic tiger
The economic crisis has hit the south of Ireland with a bang, writes Anne McShane. Much to the shock and incomprehension of all those who have staked so much on it, the Celtic tiger has been exposed as a sickly tabby
Coined by UK economist Kevin Gardiner in 1994 to liken the boom in the Irish economy to the previous dynamism of Asian ‘tigers’ like Japan and South Korea, the term ‘Celtic tiger’ became synonymous with growth and success. It was proof of the vigour of capitalism, its enduring nature and the tremendous benefits it could bring. As thousands of people returned home in the first ever reversal of constant emigration, the face of Ireland changed. Now a place to migrate to, not from, Ireland seemed to have undergone a minor capitalist miracle.
However, this transformation also served to undermine the traditional bastions of Irish society. The well deserved fall from grace of the Catholic church may have been triggered by the disclosure of the wholesale abuse wrought on those in the care of its institutions. But the trend away from organised religion had begun well before then, as the country was opened up to new influences and attitudes, and secularism became more attractive.
But losing the shackles of religious bigotry did not mean the advent of a progressive and confident working class. Instead it faced new challenges, as transnationals in pursuit of an educated and above all flexible working class made clear their antipathy to effective trade unions. The government gladly acquiesced as trade union rights were attacked, while union bureaucrats advocated a more permanent class peace. They did not want to be seen to be discouraging the movement of capital into Ireland. The result has been a decimation in membership; with 2007 figures showing just over 30% of all employees are in a trade union - the vast majority in the public sector.1
Meanwhile class-collaboration became even more pronounced and insidious. Social partnership agreements - first formulated in 1987 to bring together unions, employers and government in a common programme to reinvigorate the economy - became the focus of the union bureaucracy. It was completely bound up in maintaining economic success - and remains so today. Union leaders boasted of the benefits of cooperation in delivering improvements to the working class. Irish workers could feast on the spoils of capitalism. Unsurprisingly there is less crowing about social partnership these days, as the deals now on offer involve job losses, real wage cuts and calls from bureaucrats for sacrifice from their members. Now they are part of the belt-tightening necessary in the national interest.
Although living standards had soared through the last 25 years compared to the previous period, this rise in prosperity had been increasingly dependent on credit. House prices rocketed and the ratio of mortgage debt to other personal debt stood at 120% in 2006. Average personal debt, excluding mortgages, exceeded €6,000. Spending, however, continued unabated, as a new form of consumer-driven alienation took hold of Irish society.2
In the meantime, levels of social provision, particularly in healthcare, were slashed through privatisation and US-style medical insurance. The elderly and those unable to afford private care face long waiting lists and risky diagnoses.
Of course, the expansion of the Irish economy since the 1990s was always vulnerable to the vagaries of international finance capital. It never reflected the development of any kind of indigenous capital. For its admirers like Alex Salmond it was the perfect model. Today, as the transnationals depart in haste, massive job losses, house repossessions and the credit crunch make the claimed viability of small countries, and their alleged ability to withstand a global downturn, far less convincing.
All of this has had a major impact on the working class. Long queues now stretch outside unemployment offices for the first time since the 1980s. As the axe falls on one company after another, and transnationals relocate, people wait for their turn to come.
Fresh from bailing out the banks in September, the coalition government decided to push through a draconian budget in October. They were banking on grumpy acquiescence, if not acceptance. As workers in some industries had just agreed to accept wage cuts of up to 10%, it seemed that they could count on the population to put the national interest first.
On October 14, finance minister Brian Lenihan sold his proposals to the Dáil with a “call to patriotic action”. He was warmly endorsed by John Gormley, Green Party leader and coalition partner, who said that his party’s role in drawing up the budget meant that “the most vulnerable people in our society are protected”. This was an unconvincing claim, given that the measures included removing free medical cards from the elderly and introducing a flat rate of taxation for all, including those on the lowest income. Students were also targeted through the introduction of fees, as well as an increase in class sizes.
The government was in for a shock. Instead of patriotic submission, the budget was almost universally greeted with revulsion and dissent. Backbench Fianna Fáil TDs were besieged with protests from constituents, leading to the resignation of one and the loss of two independents who were government supporters. Street protests took place throughout the country, culminating in 25,000 pensioners and students marching through Dublin on October 22, the day the medical card legislation was to be voted through. There were very many anxious faces inside the Dáil that day, as the pensioners’ demonstration gathered outside and the pressure precipitated a major volte-face. Free medical entitlement was restored to almost 95% of over-70s and the tax levy for those on the minimum wage was withdrawn.
But the fight is far from over. Cuts in education are to be the next battleground, with demonstrations planned this coming week outside the Dáil. Although the government has insisted there will be no more backtracking on the budget, more splits are evident, particularly within the Green Party. Farmers are also threatening action because of cuts affecting them. A poll conducted by the Sunday Business Post showed government support at an historic low of 26%, with only 20% of those interviewed having any faith in its ability to deal with the present crisis (October 26).
While the revolt against the cuts is to be welcomed, positive political leadership is noticeably lacking. The two main left groups, the Socialist Party and Socialist Workers Party, are running their own, separate anti-cuts campaigns, with the SWP pushing its People Before Profit front. These campaigns not only reject cooperation with each other, but exist as rivals to other similar campaigns too.
There is another glaring absence - an initiative for a single Marxist party. We do not need yet another anti-cuts campaign vying with the rest. We need a mass revolutionary organisation that can inspire confidence, show political leadership and begin to take on the task of organising our class for an alternative to the present system.
While I am sure that SWP and SP members would agree with that point in the abstract, their practice says something very different. Richard Boyd-Barrett, leading member of the SWP, spoke on a platform on the October 22 demo for People Before Profit. He made no mention of his revolutionary politics, socialism or for the working class to take the lead politically. His most radical demand was for the unions to organise a national demonstration.3
Instead it was left to Brian Hayes from Fine Gael, the main opposition party, to present the idea of an alternative government. The Sunday Business Post poll shows Fine Gael as running at 33% in the polls and the Labour Party, its likely coalition partner, also up five points to 15%. Labour’s Ruairi Quinn also spoke on the same platform and told everyone that they were wasting their time unless they voted the right way in any coming election. Sinn Féin was also on hand to call for votes.
Why was Fine Gael given such a platform? It is viciously anti-working class and xenophobic. It even currently suggesting that foreign workers be paid to ‘go home’. They have a track history that is well known and hated. To allow the political initiative to pass to Hayes was contemptible. He should have been heckled off the stage, not allowed to fish for votes.
While the SWP has been holding meetings on the ‘collapse of capitalism’, its practical politics are sub-reformist. Those who call themselves Marxists must put forward an immediate programme in the here and now. A programme that argues for what our class needs economically and, crucially, politically to transform itself into the ruling class.
It is obvious to anybody with eyes and ears that capitalism is not working. Bourgeois economists are panic-stricken about the consequences. How it is going to be superseded - that is the issue.
Notes
1. www.rte.ie/news/2008/0410/unions.html
2. See, for example, ‘Twenty years a viewing: the ups and downs of the property pages’ Irish Times September 18.
3. See www.people-before-profit.org
