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People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Ireland needs a Tea Party this election and almost had one

Posted on Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 08:02 PM

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Let's face it if American was ripe for political revolution in the last election how ripe is Ireland right now?

The latest opinion polls from the weekend show voters indicating that 15 percent of them will vote for independents, rather than any of the established parties.

That sure smells of revolution, but the problem Ireland has is that there is no organized Tea Party to take advantage.

There almost was.

Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole (pictured) revealed this weekend that he had considered gathering clean government advocates like himself and running as an affiliate group of independents.

The name of the new group was going to be called 'Democracy Now.'

Among those approached according to the Sunday Tribune were businessman and former Wexford hurling manager Liam Griffin, Cork goalkeeper Dónal Óg Cusack, cystic fibrosis campaigner Orla Tinsley and Seamus Boland, ceo of Irish Rural Networks.

O'Toole gathered together many big names, including columnist Eamon Dunphy, economist David McWilliams and a bunch of others. They had raised $600,000 in one day and headquarters were being provided by Riverdance impressario John McColgan.

But O'Toole said time ran out as the election was called sooner rather than later.

They were to have a five point platform, calling for a referendum on the EU bailout and an impartial investigation into government and business corruption.

Chances are his version of the Tea Party would have done extremely well.

A measure of how badly the Irish electorate thinks of their leaders at present is that 30 percent think the newly elected Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin would make the best Prime Minister.

This is a man who was in a senior position around the cabinet table for all the major decisions that brought Ireland to this crisis.

But he is a 'now' face, relatively speaking, taking advantage of widespread coverage of him over the past two weeks as he challenged incumbent Brian Cowen.

But the Tea Party envisaged by O'Toole would have been an intriguing experiment.

Do commentators and economist make better politicians than those currently in the job?

Could they make any worse?

The answer to that is definitely no.

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27 comments

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johnymac60 | Jan 31, 2011, 02:46 PM EST

The comparison is not so much the politics of the Tea Party - It's more the need for a disruptive - game-changing alternative voice that would be able to focus discontent into a positive new message in Ireland.

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wjb1tex | Jan 31, 2011, 01:29 PM EST

Posted by susanna wjb1tex- The Tea Party is so not representative of this country- how many people of color belong? They are also doing the work of the Koch brothers (do you even know who they are?) and, in their ignorance, don't even know it. Yes, compared to the Tea Party, I am an intellectual elitist and proud of it! ------------------------------------------------ Your arrogance is beyond belief. Do I even know who the Koch brothers are? Yes I do. Do you even know who George Soros is ? Because someone agrees with the Koch brothers or Soros doesn't mean they are "doing the work of" Your inellect is not in question. It is very apparent.

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71regiment | Jan 31, 2011, 01:13 PM EST

I think NYCSheridan and Susanna are the problem of what is wrong here in the USA & in Ireland. You two sound like elitist of the far left, who think they know what is best for the rest of us. If this where 1774, you would be Loyalist. Ireland does need something like the Tea Party, the two parties in Ireland are like the two main parties here both set in their ways, and lets not really go all out and fix our problems. You can't take in 30 odd billion Euro and spend 50 odd billion Euros and you can't keep doing the same in the US.

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WoundedKnee | Jan 31, 2011, 01:12 PM EST

I completely fail to see the comparison between these people and the Tea Party. Whatever you think of the Tea Party, it is a mass movement, grass roots up. What these people were proposing in Dubluin is a small elitist group. And these guys didn't even have the guts to run for office in Ireland. In fact, the Dublin group remind me of eunuchs: They know how it's done, they see it done all around them, they can even write about how it's done. But they can't do it themselves.

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susanna | Jan 31, 2011, 01:01 PM EST

wjb1tex & McNabb1966 - let us not forget that the ignorant in this country (and every country is full of them)"selected" "W" Bush for President and he did what no other President in the history of this country did - destroyed it.

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susanna | Jan 31, 2011, 12:56 PM EST

wjb1tex- The Tea Party is so not representative of this country- how many people of color belong? They are also doing the work of the Koch brothers (do you even know who they are?) and, in their ignorance, don't even know it. Yes, compared to the Tea Party, I am an intellectual elitist and proud of it!

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wjb1tex | Jan 31, 2011, 11:05 AM EST

Posted by susanna They are made fun of in this country by the truly informed and intelligent main stream people---------------------------- What an arrogant elitist. You are the reason the Tea Party is changing our government for the better. Just stay there in your "informed intelligent " shell and pretend you are the wise one and all the other people are wrong.

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McNabb1966 | Jan 31, 2011, 11:00 AM EST

Wishful thinking on the part of NYCSheridan and susanna. But if that's what passes for conventional wisdom on the Left then far be it from me to educate you. I want you to maintain ignorance at all costs. Please DON'T learn anything from the 2010 elections.

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susanna | Jan 31, 2011, 10:51 AM EST

NYCsheridan - I couldn't have said it better! The Tea Party members are not considered revolutionaries, here in America, just a group of baffoons on whom some opportunistic polticos and millionaires, who want to push their agenda, prey upon. Also, a recent television expose' on the party revealed the Tea Party has only, literally, a handful of people of color. It mainly consists of "cottage cheese" with no intelligence. They are made fun of in this country by the truly informed and intelligent main stream people.

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NYCsheridan | Jan 31, 2011, 10:08 AM EST

If the Irish people think that the Tea Party is a force to be reckoned with, they are sadly mistaken. The Republican gains in the House and Senate were due to a blanket disaffection with incumbents, not a radical turn to the right. Do you want a Michelle Bachmann or a Sarah Palin? Really? They are idiots and a national disgrace.

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antoman | Jan 31, 2011, 07:07 AM EST

Americans already got the Tea party.How about the Barrys party?The Lyons party or Tesco's cheap tea bags party?

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Monsoonman | Jan 30, 2011, 10:54 PM EST

Great piece Roberts! The Irish citizens need to band together like American citizens have and flex their muscles. The Tea Partys power is grassroots, that is the magic. As you can see they are making a major difference in American politics. Go for it Ireland! I am sure there are Brothers and Sisters in the US who would help you out because frankly I think it is going to be the only way we stop our out of touch, runaway governments from spending us into servitude.

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