Populism and politics – The Irish Times

Sir, I feel compelled to respond to Neil Cronin and Niall Gintys (separate) defences of centrist democracy, apparently under threat in Ireland from populist forces similar to those unleashed in the US on January 6th, 2021 (Letters, January 8th).

Neither correspondent chose to name the source of this supposed threat, perhaps to maintain the delicious frisson of fear which keeps centrists cosy in their beds at night.

We may safely infer, however, that their comments were directed towards Sinn Fin (after all, next to the more excitable cohort of the partys supporters, it is only militant centrists who view Sinn Fin as a material threat to the status quo).

This concept of populism deserves closer scrutiny. The term has no fixed meaning, but is most commonly deployed (in Ireland, at least) to lampoon policies which privilege the public interest over the demands of the wealth-hoarding classes.

It is, of course, entirely a coincidence that the sober, realistic, pragmatic path advocated by opponents of populism is always the one which further enriches the rich.

Indeed, this caricatured populism the promise of goodies which cannot be delivered in the real world could more aptly be applied to the establishments handling of the ongoing pandemic. How else to account for its insistence that no amount of death or disease can, or should, interfere with the consumption patterns of Fine Gaels and Fianna Fils voter base?

How else to describe its belief that schools, pubs and restaurants exist in a magical bubble wherein the laws of epidemiology do not apply? How else to define its habitual and divisive haranguing of (always unionised) workforces as privileged elites whenever their interests conflict with those of the State and its corporate clients?

Theirs is neither a productive nor a popular form of populism, but it is (alas!) the closest thing to such a phenomenon which currently exists in our politically impoverished State. Yours, etc,

TURLOUGH

KELLY,

Ringsend,

Dublin 4.

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Populism and politics - The Irish Times