Tóibín determined to end ‘focus group' governance

Former Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín is coming to Mullingar on Tuesday week next, in the latest leg of his nationwide roadshow aimed at establishing an alternative to what he sees as the cosy consensus of modern politics.

Part of Tóibín’s Meath West remit extends to the old Coole electoral area in north Westmeath, which he has served in the Dáil since 2011. In recent weeks, the Navan native left Sinn Féin after being suspended by the party for going against the grain of its radical abortion policy.

Tóibín’s suspension by the SF politburo was intended to be temporary, but after receiving calls of support from “hundreds of people across the country”, he decided to quit and set up his own 32-county political movement.

The move comes against the backdrop of rumours that conservative-leaning elements within SF, as well as those in Fianna Fáil, are considering jumping ship in the face of a smothering consensus among their respective leaderships on certain issues.

An example of this is the decision by the FF leadership to ignore the vote for retention of the 8th Amendment at its ard fheis last year, and to support repeal. This, along with the recent kicking of pro-life TD Éamon Ó Cuív to the back bench, has been taken as an affront by many among the traditional FF grassroots.

“There’s a political pressure cooker out there, and it’s having the weights taken off it,” Deputy Tóibín told the Westmeath Examiner, referring to a portion of the population – anywhere between a third and 40 percent – who have “particular views” which are going unacknowledged by their elected representatives.

For example, Deputy Tóibín cites the 34 percent of people who, despite the almost unanimous call for a Yes vote from press and platform, voted to retain the 8th Amendment.

“They aren’t being listened to. They’ve been disenfranchised. They have nobody to vote for,” says Tóibín. Already, he has recruited SF councillors in Kildare and Mayo, activists in Cork, a leading Fine Gael activist in Dublin, and is in talks with a number of TDs about joining the as yet unnamed movement.

“Even people in Fine Gael are by a million miles at odds with the direction in which Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris are taking their party, which is essentially government by focus group.

“What’s happening is a threat to the proper functioning of democracy. Everybody is rushing to occupy the same space, with no dissenting views being heard.

“If their voices remain unheard, people will be pushed to vote on the margins, as has happened in the US, the UK and Europe.”

Tóibín said that the movement he is working towards is a 32-county and republican one, and he expects the core pro-life vote to be the “engine” of its activism.

That said, he insists that the party he and others are working towards will be on the left of the spectrum, in terms of its economic policy. It will completely reject creeds like “Marxism and Trotskyism”, but instead will recognise that a balance needs to be struck between the interests of those “who take risks and wish to see gains”, and workers who are “entitled to proper pay and conditions”.

Although recognising the challenges posed by Brexit – which he says require an “all-island response” – Tóibín describes the nascent party as “Euro-critical”, i.e., opposed to European federalism and an EU army.

He also believes the new movement should tackle “maladministration” in the state, and to do away with “auction politics” and reform the party system. In addition, Tóibín argues that Ireland should be directed away from what he calls a “city-state” future, in which rural Ireland is being denuded and turned into a commuter belt for Dublin.

“Our hope is to reorientate debate and create a political threat to the consensus,” said Deputy Tóibín, who invites people to his forthcoming meeting in the Mullingar Park Hotel on Tuesday December 11 (7.30pm).