Since the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael/independents government took office in January, a rare occurrence has occurred on the steps of Leinster House.
Leaders from opposition parties are working together in what analysts have dubbed the “Combined Opposition.”
Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, Labour, People Before Profit, Independent Ireland and the Greens have all banded together and spoken as a united front on major issues, such as disability rights, the ongoing Israel-Gaza war and housing.
In a week when cracks are starting to show in the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael coalition over student fees, the prospect of the opposition working together and potentially setting their differences aside should, in theory, be causing nightmares on Kildare Street.
If the recent vote for Lord Mayor on Dublin City Council is anything to go by, then the current coalition is likely to be returned the next time the country goes to the polls.
In the aftermath of last June’s local elections, Labour and the Greens famously walked from talks with Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and a number of left-leaning independents to run Dublin City Council.
The combined number of Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, Labour and Green councillors after last June’s local elections was 31, one shy of an overall majority.
However, the alliance had received the backing of People Before Profit’s two councillors and the backing of left-leaning independents, including future TD Barry Heneghan as well as independent councillors Cieran Perry, Vincent Jackson, Pat Dunne and Independent Left councillor John Lyons.
Sinn Féin councillor (and former Lord Mayor) Micheál Mac Donncha said it was “disappointing” that Labour and the Greens didn’t pull the plug on their coalition partners and suspected they were in it for the mayoral positions.
Mac Donncha questioned the rationale of Labour and the Greens re-upping their agreement with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, considering how recent meetings of Dublin City Council have featured councillors from the government parties breaking cover and criticising the government parties for making decisions without councillor input.
June’s meeting of Dublin City Council came in the aftermath of Minister for Housing James Browne pulling the plug on over social housing units, with over 200 planned Northside units scrapped by the Department of Housing in a unilateral move by the Department of Housing, a move that was made without a vote or even input by Dublin City Council members.
Elected as the new Lord Mayor of Dublin on June 30, Fine Gael councillor Ray McAdam told the regular June meeting, “I’m genuinely at a complete and utter loss” about the situation.
“This city council has been criticised for not delivering enough public housing; I’d like the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste to explain how we can deliver more housing if they are cutting the funding.”
With this context in mind, per Mac Donncha, the decision reflects poorly on Labour and the Greens; why team up with the government parties who, in the view of Dublin City Council members, are working so hard to undermine their work?
The Donaghmede councillor also said that the issue of the Local Property Tax, which was the impetus for Labour to walk from talks with Sinn Féin and the Soc Dems was “a foolish thing to paint themselves into a corner with.”
He said it was “crazy” that Labour was willing to sink the coalition over the Local Property Tax, which he called an “unfair” tax.
People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy, who is part of the Progressive Alliance along with fellow councillor Hazel De Nortúin, said that he and his fellow left-of-centre councillors are “sincere” in wanting to work with Labour and the Greens in the future.
“Our parties joining up at a national level has given people a sense of hope,” the Ballymun-Finglas councillor said.
“Things have gotten worse in this city in terms of housing and homelessness, and we believe the Progressive Alliance can really make a dent in that,” he said.
People Before Profit want the Local Property Tax cut, whereas Labour want the tax increased; that was the reason Labour walked from talks last June.
Reddy fails to see the rationale behind it, calling the tax a tax on people’s homes and noting that Dublin City Council has a budget of €1.4 billion every year, and Labour’s proposed LPT raise would bring in €15 million extra a year, a figure Reddy called “a drop in the ocean.”
Mac Donncha asserted that Labour were in the coalition for power purposes, and Reddy noted that the Lord Mayor role is a launchpad for a councillors Dáil’s hopes, noting that TDs such as Fianna Fáil’s Paul McAuliffe and Fine Gael’s James Geoghegan were in the Lord Mayor roles just before their elections as TDs.
Social Democrats councillor Jesslyn Henry said it was “important” that the opposition parties of the Dáil “stand together in Dublin City Council and stand up for Dublin.”
The June 30 meeting took place amid the backdrop of another gloomy set of statistics from the Department of Housing that revealed that 11,323 people availed of homeless services in Dublin in the month of May.
The sub-text of Henry’s speech is that Labour and The Greens, by teaming up with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, were giving their tacit endorsement to the government parties that are perpetrating the crisis.
In the current governing coalition on Dublin City Council, Fine Gael are the largest party in the grouping with 11 seats, Fianna Fáil and the Greens on eight and Labour on four.
With those numbers in mind, Fine Gael will enjoy two years with the Lord Mayor chains, Fianna Fáil and the Greens will have the role for 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 and Labour, the smallest party in the grouping will have the role for the 2028/29 council year, which just so happens to be right around the time the country is going to the polls again.
What is more intriguing is the Greens’ insistence on propping up Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael when that is precisely what led to their near-extinction last November.
Announcing the Greens’ participation in the Dublin City Council last June, councillor Michael Pidgeon said the agreement was “rooted in practical delivery.”
Backing McAdam’s nomination as Lord Mayor, Pidgeon said, “I think as councillors, we probably work best when we’re working together to find solutions even when we don’t agree, but I think we are at our worst when we try and turn the council chamber into a mini-Dáil.”
“Politics and policy matters hugely, but partisanship rarely does much,” he said.
In an email to Progressive Alliance councillors, and turning down the chance to walk out on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, Green councillor Janet Horner wrote “it isn’t fair to ask us to turn our backs on the progressive, clear and ambitious agenda that we have negotiated for an alternative that isn’t actually offering any practical policies or proposals.”
“It seems unconstructive to try to dismantle the project that is going to genuinely deliver change for the city in this means and call it a progressive move,” she wrote.
The North Inner City councillor said she hopes to have the opportunity to vote for councillor Kenny for Lord Mayor in the future.
She added, “in the meantime, I would really urge you not to play this for a social media stunt as we continue to try to work as collaboratively as possible so we can actually deliver for the city instead of jeopardising that by taking potshots at each other online.”
In recent weeks, former Green TD and MEP Ciáran Cuffe has told this newspaper that he sees scope for co-operation between progressive forces, but made it clear he saw his party, Labour and the Social Democrats as political entities that could work together.
When asked about Sinn Féin’s involvement in a hypothetical electoral alliance, he said, “ I’d like to include Sinn Féin in there, but sometimes I scratch my head.”
“Some days, they’re in the far-left corner; other days, they are madly populist. It will take a while to get clarity on where Sinn Féin are aligned, but certainly, co-operation between centre-left parties is hugely important in the years ahead with the rise of the far-right.”
As for the vote, McAdam won 34 of the available votes to become Lord Mayor of Dublin, with Kenny receiving 22.