Paul Hosford: Politicians rush from losing side of referenda

The aftermath of the vote will do little to restore public trust in political pronouncements, writes Paul Hosford

Lisa Chambers was an early bolter from the Fianna Fáil camp, her defection coming just 23 hours after polls closed.

The end of political campaigns often finds key players grasping at cliches and maxims.

The one picked by the Taoiseach last Saturday as the results from Friday’s referenda showed the shellacking the Government had taken has appeared all the more prescient. Success, Leo Varadkar said at Dublin Castle, has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.

The rush of Fianna Fáil politicians away from the losing side means that the failure of the Government is now sitting squarely in the middle of the floor with nobody wanting to touch it.

The party’s leader in the Seanad, Lisa Chambers, revealed that she had voted against both questions put forward by the Government on family and care, despite the official Fianna Fáil Instagram page showing photos of her on February 22 canvassing on Dublin’s Grafton St for a yes-yes vote. Ms Chambers was an early bolter from the Fianna Fáil camp, her defection coming just 23 hours after polls closed.

She posted on social media site X: “A strong message from women in this referendum; they didn’t want the word mother removed from our constitution. And many people want the Government to do more to enable mothers to stay at home if they want to. That choice isn’t really available for most.”

Despite handing out leaflets on the capital’s busiest street, Ms Chambers later said she “was never supporting the care proposal for the simple reason that the word ‘mother’ was being removed from the Constitution”.

'Back to basics'

Her colleague Willie O’Dea followed on Monday morning saying that Fianna Fáil “needs to get back to basics and abandon the Hate Speech Bill etc”.

He called on the party to “focus on housing, health, and law and order and stop playing to the woke gallery”.

“Start listening to the people, stop talking down to them, and stop listening to the out-of-touch Greens and NGOs,” said Mr O’Dea.

On RTÉ’s Morning Ireland yesterday, two more Fianna Fáil TDs, John McGuinness and Niamh Smyth, both said they had voted no, Mr McGuinness to both referenda and Ms Smyth to the care question. 

Mr McGuinness had made his position clear in the run-up to polling day.

The Oireachtas media committee chairwoman said her mind had been changed after doing “a little bit” of canvassing, due to the intervention of care and disability advocates such as senator Tom Clonan.

Repositioning the party

The fact that Government TDs voted against a Government proposal is not surprising in and of itself — the care referendum was the largest percentage of votes ever cast against a referendum in Ireland. What was surprising was how quickly Fianna Fáil politicians, in particular, have moved to try to reposition the party as being opposed to the very notion.

During the Morning Ireland segment, Government TDs openly admitted they did not canvass on the referenda, summing up the apathy which surrounded the yes campaigns. While eyes are on locals and Europeans, not to mention a possible general election, attention and energy appear to have been elsewhere.

Green Party TD for Limerick City, Brian Leddin, admitted that his effort was “not good enough”.

“I have to accept that. I could have done more. I hold my hands up,” he said.

It is unlikely given the size of the defeat that more effort would have bridged the historic chasm between the votes, but the aftermath will do little to restore public trust in political pronouncements.