All Hail The Social Democrats - The Heroes Of Hypocrisy
Rest easy fellow citizens, the horror of the housing crisis will soon be over! You that have been denied your right to affordable, secure homes can sleep easy tonight. Salvation is at hand!
A fearless new champion has emerged to fight for housing justice in Ireland and they yield a mighty weapon - the vote of no confidence.
With this awesome parliamentary device the Social Democrats will slay Eoghan Murphy and the entire right-wing political establishment. Developers will be dissolved. Bankers will be banished. Landlords will be laid low.
Do not doubt the courage and determination of the Social Democrats. Just weeks ago they bravely backed a deal to hand the fourteen acre O’Devaney Gardens site to a private developer.
Without flinching they did what needed to be done and secured a whopping 30% of the housing for public use, while leaving the private sector with a piddling 70% of the housing.
Under the leadership of Gallant Gary Gannon, the Social Democrats on Dublin City Council took the hard, pragmatic decisions that needed to be taken to secure such an amazing result . This is the sort of leadership that the people of Ireland need - the sort of leadership that shamelessly presents a disastrous defeat as some form of victory.
The Social Democrats have no shortage of this sort of leadership, or of courage. In the years following the collapse of the Celtic Tiger the great leader Rosin Shorthall bravely attacked the austerity programme of Fianna Fail before going into coalition with Fine Gael to implement the austerity programme of Fianna Fail.
And when it comes to vision too, Roisin is without equal. Who else has the foresight to abandon the sinking Labour Party before the electorate could eviscerate them? Who else provided a group of rats with a way off that ship?
The other great leader of the Social Democrats, Catherine Murphy has shown the same visionary skill as Shortall. Never once has she been found wanting in commitment to herself. Not when she was in The Workers Party. Not when she was in Democratic Left. Not when she was in Labour. Not when she was an Independent. And not now in the Social Democrats.
Judge the Social Democrats by votes that matter - like the one to hand O’Devaney Gardens to a private developer - and not publicity stunts like the Eoghan Murphy no confidence vote.
Despite the brand change the Social Democrats will stay true to their heroic Labour past and to social democracy generally. The will never allow principles, integrity, honesty or basic human decency to get in the way of their personal advancement or a good press release.
The Social Democrats will boldly fulfill their role in the Irish political landscape. Today they will talk of housing justice and deploy mighty parliamentary weapons against the establishment parties. Tomorrow they will act as a mudguards for those same parties in local councils and central government.
A fake hope for a new generation. A faux rallying point for disaffection. A false dawn that will inevitably be followed by further disappointment, dejection and demoralisation of activist and voter alike.
That is the function of social democracy in the capitalist system and the Social Democrats will perform that function to the best of their abilities.
The Social Democrats are nothing but heroes of hypocrisy who are using the issue of housing for the most cynical of political reasons. They care nothing for the 4,000 children in emergency accommodation or the close to a million people that have been denied their right to secure, affordable homes.
The Social Democrats are as much a part of the political establishment as Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour. Their announcement of a no confidence motion in Eoghan Murphy was motivated by a desire to garner some cheap publicity ahead of tomorrow’s by-elections and not genuine concern about the housing crisis.
The Social Democrats should be judged by votes that actually matter - like the one to give away O’Devaney Gardens - and not publicity stunts like their no confidence vote.