Inside the collapse of Fingal’s Progressive Alliance

Hopes of a “progressive alliance” on Fingal County Council were dashed after talks between parties broke down – and the blame game started shortly after.

A bid was made to form a progressive alliance on Fingal County Council between the Social Democrats, Sinn Féin, Labour, and Solidarity, as well as the support of progressive and left-wing independent councillors to secure a working majority.

Labour represented the biggest party in the proposed grouping with seven seats, Sinn Féin on four, with Social Democrats and Solidarity on two apiece.

Even with the addition of Independents4Change councillor Dean Mulligan and Green councillor David Healy to the proposed alliance, the talks would have needed the support of at least four of the seven independent councillors on Fingal County Council to get the majority.

In purely mathematical and governing terms, the Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour alliance consists of 20 seats, just 1 shy of an overall majority, with fewer moving parts involved.

In the lead-up and aftermath of the annual meeting of the Fingal County Council, the blame game has seen the prospective coalition partners air their dirty laundry and grievances.

The talks collapsed for the same reason a similar alliance on Dublin City Council collapsed – Labour had “very clear” red lines with regards to property tax that they were not willing to compromise on.

As far as the Social Democrats were concerned, Labour were merely acting as “mudguards” for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Social Democrats councillor Paul Mulville said, “there is no question that Labour had a great election in Fingal, but does another pact with establishment parties meet Labour voters’ expectations?”

“It appears that the public pleas from Labour leader Ivana Bacik, calling for greater cooperation between centre-left parties has been further exposed as empty rhetoric when put to the test.”

Mulville’s colleague Joan Hopkins said “after elections, ruling groups of Fingal councillors have always divvied up Mayors & Chairs in secrecy, in advance of the inaugural council meeting of the new term – some progressive councillors saw an opportunity to change this and engaged with other progressive and left-wing councillors to work on a policy-led ruling arrangement that transparently outlined the division of chairs and committee roles from the outset.”

Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon said, “for all their talk about the need for unity on the left, it now appears that the Labour will simply revert to their default position of being mudguards for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil at the first opportunity.”

The talks between the various parties were led by Mulligan, and the proposed ruling agreement between the parties was taken from the various manifestos of the different parties.

In terms of the actual dynamics, Labour would have been offered two of the five mayoral slots, in proportion to the seats they have won.

There was also early discussion surrounding the appointments to the likes of committee chairs before the talks collapsed.

The talks fell apart for the same reason talks fell apart on Dublin City Council – the issue of Local Property Tax.

Labour councillor John Walsh said the issue was a “clear red line” for the party and one of their guiding principles.

He said that Labour would not have accepted cutting the LPT under any circumstances, and as such, the party did not continue with the talks

“Wanting to cut Local Property Tax but still have strong public services is Bertie Ahern voodoo economics,” he remarked.

“Having strong public services is one of Labour’s main aims as a party as people know, and cutting taxes would be a real setback in delivering funding for our public services such as transport, parks, and housing.”

The Castleknock councillor said that Labour engaged in the talks “in good faith”, but aside from the Local Property Tax issue, Walsh stated there were concerns within Labour that the proposed alliance was short of a majority and had too many moving parts.

In addition, one grouping within the proposed alliance objected to the prospect of an undisclosed Labour councillor being put forward as a Mayoral candidate.

Walsh said that the Labour councillors were still “happy” to work with other parties outside of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the next five years, and said that he would be looking for the support of other left-of-centre parties to get Labour’s policies implemented on Fingal County Council.

“On this occasion, there were too many overall differences – we engaged in the talks in good faith, but aside from the fundamental differences over tax, the numbers simply were not there.”

Brian McDonagh was named Mayor of Fingal County Council following the annual meeting, and said “I am extremely proud to represent a County as culturally diverse as the one we have, particularly as it continues to be one of the fastest growing regions in the country in terms of population and the economy.”

“As a group of Councillors, we all bring different life experiences and a healthy mix of professional backgrounds and skills to the table. I am looking forward to now getting to work to help ensure we are delivering the services that the people of Fingal deserve.”

Sinn Féin councillor Angela Donnelly remarked that Labour is “true to form” in teaming up with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

She said that the failed talks were a “lost opportunity,” and stated Labour’s pulling out over the Local Property Tax issue is a “red herring.”

“I will admit there were a lot of moving parts, but I felt this was a risk worth taking,” she said.

Donnelly, leader of Sinn Féin on Fingal County Council, said there is a “huge appetite” for further co-operation on the left, and said there was still “plenty” of scope for co-operating with Labour over the next council term.

“You also have to remember the dynamics of a local and general election are very different – I would say in terms of housing and health we have a lot in common with the other progressive and left-wing parties,” she said, and further stated that while the talks didn’t pan out on this occasion she was “hopeful” the talks would be successful in future.

“You have that like 90% overlap between the different parties, but when it comes down to that final 5-10%, that real nitty gritty, that’s when the differences rear their head.”

Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Fingal Louise O’Reilly commented “anyone surprised that Labour are more comfy with Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens than in a progressive alliance with parties of the left really hasn’t been paying attention.”

With Dublin 15 TD Roderic O’Gorman competing for the leadership of the Green Party, he told The Times that he would like an alliance between his party, Labour and the Social Democrats after the next general election.

He said, “our three parties could deliver more – but only if we form a progressive alliance after the general election, and I’d look to make sure that happens.”

Cabra-Glasnevin councillor Cieran Perry was more forthright in his estimation of a progressive alliance taking shape in the future, be it at a local or national level.

The recently re-elected independent on Dublin City Council dubbed Labour and the Greens “sellouts” for teaming up with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

“We can only hope the media commentators will now stop lecturing us about how the left should unite and include these wasters.”