New Labour leader essential in contribution to healthy democracy

THE leadership election in the Labour Party could well have a fundamental bearing on the future shape of our democracy. It is that important.

Don't all leap down my throat, accusing me of grinding an old anti-Fianna Fáil axe. I'm not just trying to make a party political point here. I know that as a Labour member (who has a vote in the election) I have a vested interest in the outcome, but I honestly believe that Labour can and must play a historic role in the next few years.

The day after the last election, I wrote here that "the Taoiseach may discover now, as others have before him, that political victory comes with a heavy price tag. The next 12 months may be the most difficult, and the loneliest of Bertie Ahern's career."

I wrote that "I would be ready to bet that within two budgets, the incoming Government will be more than deeply unpopular. It will be seen as having broken most of its promises."

Two weeks later, I wrote a piece that concluded "The broken promises have started already, with the poor of other countries bearing the brunt. As the public finances continue to deteriorate, you can bet that our own poor will bear an unequal share of the burden in the months ahead."

None of this is by way of saying "I told you so" (well, maybe just a little). There's a much more important point, and it's this. What do we do now, stuck with this miserable and already discredited Government?

Some weeks after we started it here in the Irish Examiner, all of the other newspapers have copped on to the Government at last. All of them were writing this past weekend that the shine has already gone off the new Cabinet and that Ministers are at loggerheads with each other over key decisions.

Liz O'Donnell of the PDs has fired the first warning shot across the bows of her Government partner, prompting the thought that Liz is going to play the role that Michael McDowell used to play when he wasn't in the Cabinet.

Apart from the fact that Michael won't enjoy that very much (and you wouldn't like him when he's angry) it won't work this time. The PDs are well and truly bought now, and they have little choice but to stay bought.

Remember they are in the unique position as junior coalition partners that the Government will just sail steadily on if they leave.

So we're stuck with a Government that already looks like a sorry mess, and we're stuck with it for the next five years, it seems. A healthy democracy in this situation depends on a vibrant and effective opposition.

And would you just look at what we've got, at least in terms of the main opposition party. The new leader of Fine Gael reacted to his elevation much like Rip van Winkle. Where you'd expect energy and dynamism, he promptly went to sleep, along with most of his parliamentary party. It seems as if he managed to open his mouth just once, all summer long and immediately had to spend several days trying to get his foot back out of it.

His remarks, on a so-called private occasion, were offensive on two counts. At a time when one of the least savoury undercurrents of Irish life is incipient racism much of it directed at people from Africa the very notion of using the word "nigger" in a joke was repulsive. But the judgement behind it! The idea that in this day and age political party leaders could make casually offensive remarks and expect to get away with them is so bizarre that one would have to seriously question the IQ of a senior politician who thought it was okay to do such a thing. In fact I suspect a lot of Fine Gael people will have written off their new leader already as a result of the controversy. Not only is he not in a position to mount a credible attack on the Government, he has an awful lot to do himself to win back the respect of ordinary people after that gaffe.

There are of course others on the opposition benches. Some will be there for the long haul, some will be fly-by-nights. Many will make a difference but the difference will tend to be local or personal. And my own experience of Dáil Eireann tells me that the primary interest of those new to the opposition benches will be the task of positioning themselves by reference to other opposition groupings and individuals. Taking pot shots at the Government will be a secondary task.

Which leaves the Labour Party. Labour is rooted in the history of modern Ireland, just as much as FF and FG are. It has had a stabilising influence in Irish politics and a prodding one. It has done enormous work in Government over the years, and learned not to expect thanks for it. But it has also been hugely influential in opposition. Six times the minority Government of CJ Haughey was defeated in the 87-89 period five of those defeats were planned and organised by Labour Whip Brendan Howlin. Many times over the years larger than life Labour figures Cluskey, Thornley,

Desmond, Cruise O'Brien, Keating, Spring, to name but a few dominated and enhanced public discourse in Ireland.

Labour has tended to come into its own in the past when there were big issues to take on and big targets to attack. The want of a target over the last five years made life difficult for Ruairi Quinn and his team. But in the next few years, the new Labour leader will have massive issues to confront, and no shortage of targets in the increasingly hapless and dishevelled-looking Government in front of him or her. The policies of that Government, as they drift further and further to the right, will threaten most the people at the heart of Labour's most fundamental values.

That's why the job is both a glorious opportunity and a mighty challenge.

It's perhaps no wonder that candidates have been slow to emerge for the job, which has always been regarded as one of the most difficult in Irish politics. The cv calls for energy, commitment, a willingness to travel the country endlessly, and a deep understanding of Irish life. Dick Spring once described the job as a bit like having a bath in public hard to do with dignity. As well as the ability to handle public scrutiny, the job also calls for management skills of a high order as well as the ability to inspire and motivate often contrary and independent-minded people.

The new electoral method of one member one vote means, however, that the next leader of the Labour Party will start his or term with a unique mandate from party members. If he or she demonstrates that they have the commitment and fire to really take on this Government, they could end up winning a unique mandate from the whole people of Ireland.