Alison O'Connor: Bacik makes a good start as Labour leader, but there's still plenty to do

New leader needs to be honest about how, in recent times, fear had risen among members of the parliamentary party that Labour might disappear under Alan Kelly's rule

Ivana Bacik has a long history of active
campaigning for social change, but
reviving the Labour Party could be a
bigger challenge. Picture: Gareth Chaney

IT was a wonderfully sunny Saturday afternoon in Clare. The attendees at the Burren Law School were alternating between enjoyment of the presentations going on inside and enjoying the unseasonably warm conditions outside.

As an invitee that year, I enjoyed both at this weekend event, which sadly no longer takes place. Yes, it did tick all the boxes of a middle-class intellectual talking shop — set up with the aim of “recreating a tradition of legal learning associated with the Brehon Law Schools, allowing the past to illuminate the present”. But the talking was really interesting and it did give plenty of food for thought. A memory from that day in 2018 was hearing that one of the attendees, a member of the organising committee, had left the gathering to go into Ennis.

It was 2018 and just weeks ahead of the abortion referendum. Rather than sit around discussing and delivering opinions like the rest of us, senator Ivana Bacik had made the 40-minute journey to spend the afternoon with local groups canvassing for a yes vote.

Ivana Bacik with students on Merrion Square outside Government Buildings, taking part in the 2022 Global Climate Strike. Picture: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

There can be no doubting the commitment of the new Labour Party leader, over decades, to liberalising Ireland’s laws on social issues, from marriage equality to abortion.

That day in Clare was just a small example of her commitment to bringing about change, rather than just talking about it. This is a woman who, as a student activist, was threatened with prison for providing abortion information. She is to be admired for all she has done over decades to bring about these changes.

Those social issues would have seemed fairly intractable in their day. Those experiences should stand to her in her new role as leader of Labour — a party which had 37 seats in 2011 and has only seven today. But the scale of the task before her — what may be the last roll of the dice for the party — might make divorce and abortion seem the considerably easier tasks.

In her leadership acceptance speech last week, Bacik said the politics she believes in is “not about contrived shouting matches or tearing people apart to score a political point”. It is constructive and about positive change.

“This is the spirit that I want to bring to our public life,” she said. 

A belief that together we are stronger. A commitment to the equality of all people on our island.

This is the tone Bacik, who grew up in Crookstown, Co Cork, adopted for her successful Dublin Bay South by-election campaign last summer. It worked then and seemed to catch the mood of a particular moment in time, especially in the wake of a pandemic sweeping the globe and what were seemingly never-ending lockdowns.

It would be nice to think this might still work now — we could all do with a bit of positivity given all the awfulness that is going on in the world. But where does it fit with our current bare-knuckle politics? The more usual scenes are those of spitting fury across the floor of the Dáil chamber. That then has the makings of a good video for Instagram or TikTok.

In turn, your supporters can like and favourite the post to give it prominence. Detractors who voice a dissenting opinion can be subject to summary online justice, which creates even more interest. It is a non-virtuous circle where one side feeds off the other.

Certain sections of the electorate do seem to expect a level of anger from their elected representatives and for their own rage to be reflected in our national parliament. Certainly those who, for instance, are affected by the housing crisis for many years would understandably want it to be raised in a pointed and sharp manner. But the tone frequently surpasses that. How will this proposed civility from the new Labour leader survive the crossfire?

Ivana Bacik with former leader Alan Kelly. Picture: Damien Storan/PA Wire

Although it was pleasant to see other party leaders wishing her well in her first outing as Labour leader in the Dáil on Tuesday. Luck can play an important part in politics, especially when you are new in a role, and Bacik struck lucky in choosing her subject choice, calling for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador from Ireland. A short while later, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil that Ireland had just expelled four senior officials from the Russian embassy.

On Sunday a Red C poll in the Business Post showed the Labour Party was up one point to 5%. For a small party in a national poll, that is not of any major significance but it certainly gives a psychological bounce to the new leadership.

But these are minor issues compared to the central and incredibly tough task of ensuring the survival of Labour. A party leader does not have the protection of being part of a wider campaign and the buck literally stops with them. This means it is not good enough to call for a mini budget but to not be able to cost your own proposal when asked by a journalist, as happened on the day of her election as leader. Or to answer media questions on the departure of former leader Alan Kelly in a manner which stretched credulity — almost as if he happened to wake from a vivid dream one morning and it was on the basis of what that contained he decided to stand down.

BACIK needs to take the truth by the horns. Sure, tell interviewers the former leader is a great guy and that the pair of them have had lots of constructive chats in recent weeks. But be honest about how, in recent times, fear had risen among members of the parliamentary party that Labour might disappear under his leadership.

The same goes for the constant harping back to the performance of the Labour Party in coalition with Fine Gael from 2011. Timidity and obsequiousness simply aren’t working. Own the decisions made, and the reasons for them, and move on.

The other area which needs movement is the prospect of a merger with the Social Democrats. It’s not said out loud but personalities have had a huge amount to do with how this has not progressed further before now. This has certainly altered on the Labour side with all the personnel changes of recent years. 

It’s interesting to note that the co-leaders of the latter party — Róisín Shortall and Catherine Murphy — will have hit around 70 by the next general election, if this Dail goes to 2025. To be clear, neither has indicated they do not intend to run again. It would be politically unwise of them to do so at this point in the electoral cycle. But it adds an interesting aspect to future possibilities.