The latest Irish Times/MRBI polls shows that only 17 percent of the electorate support Fianna Fail, but Brian Cowen says he will stay in office until 2012, backed up by the Greens.
Cowen has no mandate from the people to be Taoiseach or to bail out banks and inflict suffering on society.
The government’s contempt for democracy was revealed when they rejected a bill to hold bye-elections within six months of the death or resignation of any TD.
The collapse in FF support occurred before the latest revelations about the banking crisis.
The first bombshell came from Denis Casey, the former chief executive of Irish Life and permanent.
He said that the Department of Finance knew about a fictitious loan of €7.45 billion, which his company gave to Anglo-Irish Bank to hide its losses.
He even claimed that the governor of the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator had asked him to participate in the ‘green jersey agenda’.
Banking Reports
Two reports on the banking crisis by establishment figures have added further to the story.
Central Bank governor, Patrick Honohan, was a former economist with the World Bank and is a dyed-in-the-wool supporter of capitalism.
But he claimed that regulators had shown ‘an unduly deferential relationship with the banks’ and that this policy was driven from the very top of the Department of Finance, presided over by Brian Cowen.
According to the Central Bank Act of 1997, directors of banks were supposed to sign compliance statements to personally guarantee adequate reserves to support the huge loans they had taken out.
But due to lobbying by banks FF held private ‘pre-consultation’ meetings with key bankers. Then, according to Honohan:
“Following a discussion with the Department of Finance it was agreed by the Financial Regulator not to implement the provision as set out in the Central Bank Act, 1997.”
In other words, the law was set aside because the rich barons at the head of banking did not like it.
As a direct result of this decision – led by Brian Cowen – the people of Ireland will be paying between €30 billion and €50 billion to rescue the banks!
Tax-breaks
The other way that Fianna Fail exacerbated the crisis was through a host of tax-breaks to help their rich friends in the construction sector.
The second (Watson-Regling) report notes that by 2005 according to OECD figures: “the cost of ‘tax expenditures (breaks)’ had become larger than the remaining income tax receipts” and were “more than three times larger than on average in the EU.”
The picture could not be clearer. This economy was ruined by a wealthy elite of bankers, FFers, and speculators deluded by greed and self-importance.
The head of that Mafia elite was none other than Brian Cowen and before we do anything else, we have to get rid of this clown.
On June 23rd, Cowen will address a bosses banquet at the Mansion House in Dublin at 6.30.
Be there with the Right to Work campaign to drive this clown out of office.
Will Labour move left?
A new political landscape now exists, as the Labour Party is now the most popular party in the country.
It reflects a desire to shift left and give voice to the huge anger against the rich elite who have destroyed the country.
Union votes on the Croke Park deal show that many workers reject the treacherous policy of the ICTU of surrender to Fianna Fail – but they do not yet have the confidence to fight.
Opposition – for the moment – is therefore seeking an electoral expression and Labour has gained because it has tacked left in its rhetoric.
The would be leader of Fine Gael, Richard Bruton, acknowledged this when he said “Labour has gone after the protest vote and has benefited.”
This huge shift to the left shows that the Irish population want radical answers and so the growing support for Labour is to be welcomed.
Warning signs
But two warning signs show why we need a more radical left which puts pressure on the Labour Party.
First, despite the fact that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael now only command 45 percent of the vote between them, Labour is still looking to form a coalition with one of these right-wing parties.
If Labour was genuinely moving to the left, it would state openly that it wants to put the civil war parties out of existence and would seek to form a left government that is supported by Sinn Fein and others.
Eamonn Gilmore, however, is terrified of doing this because it would raise the aspirations of workers for really radical measures to tackle the crisis.
Second, the experience of Greece carries an even more dire warning signal.
In 2009, the Greek Labour Party equivalent (‘PASOK’) swept to power on a promise to deal with the speculators and the rich.
But within months, it had succumbed to capitalist pressure and pushed through a terrible programme of cuts.
There is no reason to think that the Irish Labour Party would act differently.
This is why it is vital that even as Labour is carried upwards by a rising tide, that a strong radical left emerges.
The People Before Profit Alliance has entered discussions with others on the radical left and it is hoped that a major Left alliance will emerge to offer a strong alternative.