Howlin is not right about Ireland’s Left

Gerald Howlin (Opinion, Jan 1) contends that the failure of the Left was due to generations of the working class being assimilated into the middle class: “but that dilemma was since answered by the decision of generations of working class people. If you can’t beat them join them”.

The reality is somewhat different. From the formation of this State, in 1922, until the 1980s, the working class, by and large, voted with their feet and left for Britain and elsewhere.

The great majority never returned. A potential social and political revolution was averted by emigration. Many of their descendants became prominent in the Labour and Trade Union movement in the UK.

This guaranteed the almost Janus-like hegemony of two right-wing parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, dominating the political landscape. The Catholic Church assisted in under-spinning the narrative of the Right. So rather than the working class being subsumed into the middle class, what we got was a dysfunctional political system, unique in Western Europe.

That the Labour Party chose to collude with, and abet, this charade assured that the legacy of Martin William Murphy would almost certainly triumph.

Sean Whelan

Nenagh

Co Tipperary