Yesterday (June 5th) saw the conclusion of the counting of votes for the Ireland South constituency of the European Parliament. The election itself took place on May 24th, the same day as local elections across the Twenty-Six County state.
Éirígí For A New Republic fielded three Dublin-based candidates in those elections, Ciarán Heaphey (Artane-Whitehall), Damien Farrell (Dublin South West Inner City) and Brian Leeson (Dundrum).
Both Heaphey and Farrell increased their percentage share of the first preference votes from the 2014 local elections, while Leeson was eliminated on the sixth count with over 900 votes in his first electoral contest.
These results represent a relatively solid performance by Éirígí in what transpired to be an extremely difficult election for other political parties of the broad Left.
Éirígí takes this opportunity to thank the many individuals who contributed their time and energy to our local election campaigns in these three Dublin communities. Through them our radical republican message was delivered to tens of thousands of homes; through their thousands of face-to-face conversation with voters, our ideas were explained and advanced an immeasurable distance. And through them another layer of the foundations for future change was laid.
The modest electoral advances made by Éirígí in this election do not mask the disappointment of not making greater electoral gains or the reality that the broad Left collectively lost electoral ground to the centre and the Right.
Over the coming weeks and months a deeper analysis of this and other key themes of the election including the low voter turnout in working class areas, the surge in support for The Green Party and more modest gains by Fianna Fail, Labour and the Social Democrats will be developed by Éirígí.
This analysis will help us better understand the electoral results and to make better informed decisions about future campaigns and future elections.
But no analysis, no matter how deep or how long, will change the absolute need for radical change. No analysis will change the fact that global capitalism will continue to divide humanity while simultaneously threatening the very survival of humanity.
In an Irish context, people will still be denied their rightful access to appropriate housing, healthcare, education, employment and a genuine democratic input into their own futures.
The great battle of ideas between those who believe in never-ending vicious competition between human beings and those who believe in ever-deepening cooperation among human beings will continue regardless of this or any other single electoral result.
A deeper analysis of the recent elections will not change these realities. Nor will it weaken the commitment of our activists to fighting for radical change and the creation of a new all-Ireland Republic that will place the needs of many ahead of the greed of the few.
If you’re ready to join the fight for a New Republic, get in touch today.