An Occasional Guide to Irish Politics: The Secretly Right-Wing Leftie

“Good riddance to them and their greedy Thatcherite ways!” she declared over a gin and tonic, when the Progressive Democrats closed up shop. Her leftie credentials are solid, as you can tell from her attendance at the Ivana Bacik fundraiser and the “Remember Savita” sticker placed elegantly on the back of her 5 series coupe.

The language rolls easily of the tongue, about “social justice”, “investment in communities”, “Social capital”, in fact almost anything with the word “social” in it. She’s secretary of the Labour Women’s Group in Dublin South East. The West Wing Box set holds pride of place on her DVD shelf, and The Guardian is always placed face up on the coffee table, under a box of fairtrade organic cookies. She is left wing and proud.

Not that her accountant would know, of course. Remember those filthy PDs and their tax cuts? They were quickly trousered, and a “little getaway place for Gavin and I” in Southern Portugal emerged. When the PDs and Fianna Fail cut Capital Gains Tax, her socialist conscience seemed to play second fiddle to the opportunity to flip those investment properties in Lucan and Ballymun.

For some reason, she seems unaware of the fact that the Revenue Commissioners will happily accept back any undesired taxcuts gratefully. Even filthy PD ones. Watch her reaction to funding social spending by taxing unearned profits on private residential properties: it’s like watching Newt Gingrich in high heels.

3 thoughts on “An Occasional Guide to Irish Politics: The Secretly Right-Wing Leftie

  1. You seem to have touched a nerve above Jason ! In response to the first commenter, I would argue that it’s not necessarily problematic for someone to be affluent and also moderately liberal/left-wing, as long as they practice what they preach regarding redistribution, elitism and snobbery. The problem, as I think Jason has pointed out, is that there are plenty of people who claim to be left/liberal, and yet don’t return unwanted tax cuts, donate to charities which alleviate the social problems they think taxes should pay for, and have no problem engaging in the sort of financial speculation they rail against. I would also add from my own experience the supposed liberals from south Dublin who complain about elitism in Irish society, despite being the same sort of social elites who don’t know/have minimal contact with anyone from a working class/immigrant background (apart from the cleaners in Trinity and the hired help at home in Dalkey), and can also be quite rude and dismissive to people from ‘down the country’ who they percieve as somehow culturally and intellectually inferior.

  2. Is this parody an attempt to claim that only right wingers have your permission to be wealthy? Your hatred (jealousy?) is clear, but sadly your point is muddy. Almost as muddy as the useless distinction between left and right wing.

    Are you broadly in favour of human rights? Does that make you left-wing? Stop being ridiculous!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *