By John Kierans

Copyright irishmirror

The endorsement of independent Catherine Connolly for President by Sinn Fein is now the first time the Left in Ireland have actually worked together in an election campaign.

It is a smart move by the Shinners because they did not have a candidate who could win it apart from their leader and there was no point in running someone just for the sake of it.

If the Left really want to get rid of Fianna Fail/Fine Gael in power then they need to act as a united opposition and convince voters they can provide a credible, reliable alternative Government in the next General Election.

If they can put aside their differences and run a good campaign for Connolly people might believe they can actually govern.

We have seen little or no cooperation between the so-called Left of Sinn Fein, Labour, the Greens, Social Democrats and People Before Profit down through the years.

The truth is since the growth of Sinn Fein as the main opposition party over a decade ago, all we have seen is jealousy, bickering, snobbery and petty infighting between all of the Left.

The likes of the Labour Party – previously a party of Government – could not stand or stomach the Shinners, nor for that matter could our socialist friends in People Before Profit.

There was also bitter rivalry and competition between Labour and the Social Democrats when the smart play was for the two parties to unite and to create a centre ground left wing alternative.

The likes of People Before Profit could also not stand the sight of Labour especially after they went into office with Fine Gael under Enda Kenny after the 2008 crash and oversaw a period of severe austerity which saw a failed attempt to bring in water charges followed by Corporations and local Councils being abolished around the country.

The sins of Labour in power played badly with the traditional left wing idealists who believe the rich should be penalised to pay for the poor.

Middle Ireland as such is not against some socialist ideals and policies. They want to see a decent minimum wage, decent State pensions, low taxes on low earners and a fair society for all.

But what they can stand are stupid policies which are bad for business, destroy jobs, and the notion that the State pays for everything and does not reward hard work.;

There is no doubt that Michael Martin and Fianna Fail were elected the biggest party in the last election albeit by a whisker, not because voters were impressed by them but they didn’t see any viable alternative.

The whole opposition was far too fragmented and the suggestion before the campaign that Sinn Fein had a chance of getting an overall majority on its own was pure pie in the sky and nonsense.

At least now Mary Lou McDonald can see if she really wants to be Taoiseach and change Ireland for the better then she is going to need the support of the other small left wing parties.

She and her party are going to have to learn to do what Fianna Fail are brilliant at – wheel and deal. The old saying that a day in office is better than years in opposition is so true because when you are i9n power you can get things done.

There is no doubt that the collective Left have some extremely good policies between them on a variety of issues but especially housing where the current coalition has been an absolute failure for so many years now.

Housing will again be the number one issue come election day and if the Left have their ducks in a row on this one, it can get them over the line.

The other thing is if there is a proper voting pack between all the Left wing parties to vote out Fianna Fail and Fine Gael then they can cause serious damage in many marginal constituencies when the fourth and fifth seats are on the line.

The one big thing the Left has to do is convince the electorate that they can manage the economy and not make a dog’s dinner of it like the Labour Party has in Britain.

If they can win that trust then they can have their day in the political sun. Sinn Fein’s decision to back Catherine Connolly has now blown the Presidential Election wider open.

If a vote for Connolly is seen as an anti Government vote she can stop Jim Gavin or Heather Humphreys becoming President. The weekend decision of the Shinners could be a game changer for this country.

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