How did Fianna Fáil go from a party that opposed conciliatory treaties with British Imperialism to one that has sided with US imperialism? Sean Connolly reports.
In the leadup to the 2020 Irish general election — an election in which Sinn Féin, a left-wing Irish Republican party, received the most votes but failed to secure enough seats to form a government — Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the traditionally dominant parties in Irish politics, had a brief moment of panic. Fearing the rise of a competent left-wing opposition — in contrast to the bumbling Labour party or the endlessly opportunistic Greens — both parties hastened to smear Sinn Féin.
Fianna Fáil was then, and remains today, stuck in a strange position. The party has entered a crisis of legitimacy; in fact, recent polling shows it is becoming increasingly irrelevant; although the party’s leader, Micheál Martin, assumed the office of Taoiseach (head of government) in June 2020 in a deal struck with Fine Gael and the Green party, he and his party have maintained poor approval ratings. Sinn Féin has consolidated its position as the leading left-wing electoral force on the island, while Fine Gael has always been the clear choice of the right. Fianna Fáil, which has itself moved steadily to the economic right for decades is in an awkward position: the party can offer no meaningful left-wing alternative but finds itself constantly playing second fiddle to Fine Gael on the right.
Fianna Fáil had a difficult time finding meaningful critiques to combat Sinn Féin’s rise in the 2020 election. Given Fianna Fáil’s commitment to neoliberalism, the party was incapable of outflanking Sinn Féin on issues of social spending or economic equality. Fiann Fáil tried to critique Sinn Féin’s proposed economic policies from the right, but Fine Gael had already staked out that ground; Fianna Fáil’s critiques were unoriginal, and, as a point of differentiation from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil had to at least gesture towards more left-wing economic policies.
Fianna Fáil’s solution was not to face down Sinn Féin on matters of substance, but instead to frame Sinn Féin as fundamentally “unfit” to govern. It pushed this narrative largely by focusing on Sinn Féin’s historical association with the Provisional IRA. Hugh Linehan, in an Irish Times podcast episode shortly before the election, put it this way: “[Fine Gael’s leadership] is leaving it up to Fianna Fáil to attack Sinn Féin on their past and their role in the troubles and so on, and Fine Gael go for them on the economy; which perhaps Fianna Fáil can’t go for them in the same way [on the economy], because Fianna Fáil have to say ‘we’re another change party.’”
The Troubles ended decades ago; they’re still a vitally important touchstone, but with diminishing political relevance, particularly in the South. So Fianna Fáil supplemented with another line of attack: they decided to smear Sinn Féin’s ongoing acts of anti-imperialist solidarity.
The particular focus was Venezuela. In 2019, Sinn Féin representatives attended the inauguration of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. The Irish Times (itself a firmly imperialist newspaper) reported on Fianna Fáil’s response: “Niall Collins, Fianna Fáil’s foreign affairs spokesman, said Sinn Féin’s presence at the inauguration was ‘just another example of why the party is ‘unfit for government.’”
Venezuela being entirely irrelevant to the lives of the Irish people, in recent years Fianna Fáil has been sure to bring up the issue as much as possible, so long as they can slip in references to Sinn Féin. Fianna Fáil has published seven official statements on Venezuela that I have found. The statements begin in 2017, and most of them are not really about Venezuela at all; five of them explicitly attack Sinn Féin.
“Sinn Féin silence on events in Venezuela speaks volumes,” reads the title of the first statement, published in May 2017; it goes on to say “The party’s [Sinn Féin’s] support of the Maduro regime undermines its credibility.” The next statement, a few months later, hits similar points: “Sinn Féin’s continued support of Maduro and their failure to condemn his actions demonstrates that they are selective in their support of basic democratic principles.”
Then, two days later, Fianna Fáil raises the stakes and releases a statement titled “Sinn Féin complicit in Venezuelan electoral fraud” — no longer simply questioning Sinn Féin’s foreign policy positions, Fianna Fáil escalates and accuses them, quite explicitly, of complicity in a crime. “It [Sinn Féin] is actively assisting the Venezuelan dictator attain sweeping powers by trying to cover up fraudulent elections such as Sunday’s,” the statement claims; “A string of Sinn Féin MPs have all been previously hand-chosen by Maduro to play along as non-independent election observers.” These are incredible accusations on several levels: the claim that Sinn Féin is “actively assisting” Maduro “attain sweeping powers” is a bit of a stretch; it’s doubtful many people in Venezuela even know of Sinn Féin, let alone that the party had any meaningful influence on the way events have played out in the country. I’m also unsure what evidence Fianna Fáil has that Sinn Féin’s observers were “hand-picked” by Maduro, but the implicit admission in the statement is interesting — Sinn Féin’s views on the Venezuelan election come from direct, on-the-ground observation; one is left to wonder from where exactly Fianna Fáil gets its information.
The smears re-emerge after Maduro’s inauguration in 2019. “Sinn Féin attendance at Venezuelan Presidential inauguration a disgrace,” reads the first statement to address the issue; the above quote from the Irish Times was taken from this statement. A second statement on the inauguration notes “The only support he [Maduro] can truly rely on are his communist allies and the Sinn Féin organisation here in Ireland.” This is perhaps once again granting Sinn Féin more influence than they truly have, and Fianna Fáil seems to have a high estimation of the power of international communism — apparently Maduro, who remains in power to this day, is supported only by communists, with the notable expectation of Sinn Féin.
In-between the attacks on Sinn Féin, these statements read like press releases from the US state department or the European Council. There are plenty of valid concerns about recent events in Venezuela, but it is shocking that none of Fianna Fáil’s statements have referenced the incredible suffering that the Venezuelan people have faced due to sanctions from the US and EU.
The strategy is hardly subtle and given polling and electoral results it has clearly been ineffective — subtly and effectiveness were both abandoned by Fianna Fáil sometime in the last few decades. Fianna Fáil (and, for the record, Fine Gael) wishes to push a narrative that Venezuela is fundamentally undemocratic, authoritarian, and “socialist” or “communist,” then fundamentally link Sinn Féin with Venezuela in the eyes of Irish voters, and then — by association — smear Sinn Féin as undemocratic, authoritarian, and even communistic (there were repeated claims, for instance, from both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, that Sinn Féin’s economic policies would “turn the country into Venezuela”). Fianna Fáil has repeatedly claimed that Sinn Féin is “not a normal democratic party,” a line of attack, interestingly enough, that the Irish Times has echoed word-for-word.
In fairness, Fine Gael has consistently attacked Sinn Féin on exactly the same notes. But to anyone familiar with Fianna Fáil’s history, this line of attack may seem strange. The party that now rabidly spews imperialist talking points was once at the forefront of Ireland’s own anti-imperialist struggle.
Sadly, this history has been abandoned.
A Legacy Betrayed
Fianna Fáil emerged out of the anti-Treaty side of the Irish Civil War. The anti-Treatyites, at their core, opposed the political settlement — the Anglo-Irish Treaty — that had ended the Irish War of Independence and established the newly independent Irish Free State. In essence, they believed the treaty contained too many concessions to the British, and that the new Irish state would still be bound by undue British influence. The anti-Treatyites wanted a completely independent, democratic Irish Republic, free from all vestiges of British imperialism.
This is, of course, a gross simplification of what was a complex and deeply bitter conflict. By the time the Civil War had ended, the divides were often personal as much as political. And it’s worth noting that, at least in theory, the pro-treaty side shared the same ultimate goal: the Irish Republic. But pro-Treatyites saw the treaty as a necessary step on the path to the Republic.
In any case, the anti-Treaty military forces — composed of the majority of the original Irish Republican Army (IRA), which largely opposed the treaty — were quickly and brutally suppressed by the new Free State army (with help from the British). The IRA remained in existence, but greatly reduced, and posed no serious military threat for several decades. Anti-Treaty political forces — led by Éamon de Valera — soon reconstituted themselves in the electoral arena. They formed a new political party: Fianna Fáil. Buoyed by real discontent with the new Irish government — which had quickly fallen to right-wing political forces — Fianna Fáil swept into government on a wave of populist appeal.
From 1932-1948 Fianna Fáil enjoyed uninterrupted control of the Irish government, with Éamon de Valera at the head of the party and the state. De Valera is today a controversial figure, particularly for his role in reinforcing conservative Catholic social values in Ireland and for granting significant power and influence to the Catholic Church. This legacy deserves to be deeply criticized. That said, there is no question that De Valera was sincerely committed to securing the sovereignty of the Irish nation with the intent of defending that sovereignty from British interference. During his years as head of government, he oversaw significant strides towards Irish sovereignty. Of particular importance was the drafting of a new constitution, which was ratified by plebiscite in 1937. This constitution removed references to British political authority which had been forced by the British into the constitution of the Free State.
Through both legislation and the enshrinement of the new constitution, Fianna Fáil oversaw, amongst other changes, the removal of the reviled Oath of Allegiance to the British monarch and the removal of the British Governor-General. De Valera’s constitution also removed any reference to the British Commonwealth, but in a delicate and absurd diplomatic dance, the United Kingdom for years continued to consider Ireland a part of the Commonwealth, and Ireland, while not openly refuting the point, continued to consider itself separate, and to act accordingly.
De Valera also won significant concessions from the British in 1938, after a long, bitter, and economically devastating trade war that began around 1933, shortly after De Valera took office. The trade war was largely a British reaction to De Valera’s attempt to end Irish payments to the United Kingdom that had been forced onto Ireland in the Anglo-Irish Treaty (the imposition of financial payments and economic warfare remain favored tools of imperialist forces to this day, used to keep nations economically subservient even after they have secured political independence). Britain ultimately agreed to accept a one-time, reduced payment instead of an ongoing financial commitment from Ireland, and — vitally — Britain returned three Irish military ports which had remained under British control.
These concessions allowed De Valera to guide Ireland through a policy of neutrality in the Second World War (though in practice, Ireland did provide significant aid to the Allies). Neutrality has become a carefully guarded political tradition in Ireland, particularly on the left. The tradition has, for the most part, prevented direct Irish military involvement in global conflicts, with the notable exception that Irish troops have engaged in UN peacekeeping missions.
The Imperialist Turn
It must be acknowledged, then, that Fianna Fáil played a significant historical role in defending Irish sovereignty against British imperialism.
So where did things go wrong?
There is no specific moment; the shift has been gradual and prolonged. Certainly, Fianna Fáil began to play a very different role in relation to British imperialism after the emergence of the Troubles in the North in the late 60s. There was a brief moment — very brief, in retrospect — in which it seemed as if the Irish government might intervene in the North. As the North descended into chaos, Jack Lynch, the Fianna Fáil Taoiseach (head of government), made a famous speech on August 13, 1969: “The Irish government can no longer stand by and see innocent people injured and perhaps worse.” At the same time, Irish troops began to mass at the border with the North.
The naive hope was that the Irish government — led by Fianna Fáil — would do something to materially help Irish nationalists in the North. That is to say, the assumption was that Fianna Fáil would — as it had done before — take a stand against British imperialism.
The party did no such thing. Instead, the Irish state began to mobilize its repressive apparatus to clamp down on the newly emergent Provisional IRA. It should be noted that the Provisional IRA initially emerged with the intention of defending the Northern nationalist community against growing violence, and gained popularity largely due to the frustrated sense held by Northern nationalists that no one else was bothering to protect them. The Irish state certainly was was not.
This is not to claim that the Provisional IRA acted as a purely defensive force — far from it. But the Provisionals emerged at a moment in which Northern nationalists had a desperate need for defense — the same moment in which the Fianna Fáil government abandoned any responsibility to defend the nationalist community. Instead, the Irish government moved to repress the very force that had emerged, at least in part, due to its own failures.
During the Troubles, Fianna Fáil instituted, and later a Fine Gael-Labour government strengthened, a now notorious regime of censorship, which — among other measures — banned the broadcasting or reporting of interviews with members of Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA. The Irish state also regularly investigated and arrested suspected Republican militants, reviving and updating archaic repressive legislation to bypass due process (the original legislation was introduced by De Valera’s government in 1939 in the context of World War 2, and was at least partly aimed at the still-extant IRA, part of which had not followed De Valera’s parliamentary approach and had never abandoned armed struggle). The Irish government used a “Special Criminal Court” to try suspected militants without a jury, established internment without trial, and denied suspects access to counsel during questioning. The final Provisional IRA militants in Irish jails were released in 2009, though controversy remains around the ongoing imprisonment of dissident Republicans. On the international stage, the Irish government made a concerted effort to undermine support for the Provisionals.
In short, Fianna Fáil found itself exercising repressive state power against the Provisional IRA in similar (though, in fairness, far less brutal) ways to how the Irish Free State had once repressed the anti-Treatyites.
Imperialist Collaboration
Fianna Fáil’s attitudes toward Sinn Féin today can at least be partly understood as a continuation of Fianna Fáil’s fundamental antipathy towards the Provisional IRA during the Troubles. The Provisionals may have disbanded, and Sinn Féin may have explicitly committed itself to a peaceful and democratic path towards national liberation, but Fianna Fáil prosecutes Sinn Féin with the same kind of fanatical fury with which it once locked up Republican militants.
But more worrying than Fianna Fáil’s obsession with a decades-past conflict is the party’s steadfast alignment with Western imperialism on the international stage.
Despite the nagging thorn of the North, British influence in the Republic of Ireland itself (also referred to by Republicans as “the South” or “the 26 counties”) has decayed as the Irish government has strengthened diplomatic, political, and economic ties with other nations. The most important linkages are with the United States and the European Union — both are absolutely essential economic partners for Ireland. As these linkages have grown, Ireland — with relatively little diplomatic power of its own — has become a kind of pathetic understudy to western imperialism, mindlessly mimicking the US and the EU on international issues, looking desperately to its economic masters for approval.
Venezuela again takes center stage here. On February 6, 2019 — shortly after Fianna Fáil’s statements condemning Sinn Féin’s support of Maduro — Ireland followed the lead of the U.S. and other EU states and recognized Juan Guaidó as “President ad interim of Venezuela.” This move was an interesting departure from Ireland’s tradition of neutrality — Ireland could have easily made no statement at all, or a bland statement avoiding the issue of the presidency. Instead, Ireland decided instead to back imperialism’s top choice, Guaidó — a figure who, whatever one thinks of Maduro, can hardly claim significant support amongst the Venezuelan people. This decision, it should be noted, was made by a government technically led by Fine Gael, but which relied on a Confidence and Supply agreement with Fianna Fáil; and, as Fianna Fáil’s statements on Venezuela indicate, the party seems to have wholeheartedly backed the move.
But the history of Ireland’s imperialism collaboration goes back much further. In 2002 — amidst the US invasion of Afghanistan, and in the leadup to the invasion of Iraq — a Fianna Fáil-led Irish government granted permission for the US military to make use of Shannon Airport, providing “landing and refuelling facilities.” The Fianna Fáil government, under pressure after the invasion of Iraq, explicitly resolved to continue this arrangement (interestingly, Fine Gael critiqued the arrangement at the time, though Fine Gael has done nothing to end US military use of the airport after coming into power themselves).
As of 2014, it was estimated that around 2.5 million US troops had passed through the airport — a number that continues to increase. In the first 10 months of 2020, about 66,000 more US troops passed through; in November of 2020, the independent politician Catherine Connolly claimed the total number of US troops that had passed through the airport was nearly 3 million.
It also appears highly likely that Shannon Airport has been used by the CIA for illegal redinition flights — that is to say, used by the CIA to transport illegally abducted persons, possibly to be tortured.
From the start, these US military flights have garnered controversy, particularly regarding their role in moving troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. The importance of the airport to US military operations was highlighted by former Vice President Pence himself in 2019. On a trip to Irealnd, Pence noted that Shannon has become “such an important hub for US forces deploying overseas,” and that there has been “close coordination” between Ireland and the US in “US military operations around the world.”
Ireland’s role within the UN also deserves careful analysis. Irish governments have tended to toe the line on issues of interest to the U.S. and the EU and to cautiously avoid support for resolutions that may meet disapproval from either of these powers.
In 2020, for instance, under a Fine Gael minority government — though once again, this government relied on Fianna Fáil’s support to function — Ireland supported resolutions condemning human rights abuses in nations under the crosshairs of the United States: Iran, Syria, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
On their own, these votes may simply represent Ireland’s commitment to human rights; there are, without doubt, certain genuine human rights concerns in these areas. But Ireland’s track record on other human rights resolutions throws into doubt the government’s sincerity.
Ireland voted against resolutions promoting the eradication of rural poverty, condemning the role of mercenaries in violating human rights and impeding self-determination, and condemning the human rights impacts of illegal sanctions and other unilateral coercive measures. Ireland also conspicuously abstained on the vote acknowledging the actual report of the UN Human Rights Council, and abstained on a range of other important resolutions, including a resolution affirming the right to development, a resolution calling for the global elimination of racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia, a resolution condemning colonialism and reaffirming the UN’s commitment to decolonization and self-determination, several resolutions relating to the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and guarantees against the use of nuclear weapons, and a resolution commending and reiterating the demands of the UN’s Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.
There are clear trends in which nations vote for certain kinds of UN resolutions, and which nations vote against or abstain. These trends hint at a troubling and growing divide: on issues of international justice, the right to sustainable development, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and national sovereignty, there is a consistent split between the global North and the global South; and all too often, Ireland is on the side of the North.
Similarly, in 2019 Ireland signed on to a letter with 21 other states — almost all Western states — condemning supposed human rights violations in Xinjiang. Shortly after, 50 other states — mostly of the global South — signed their own letter defending China’s policies and commitment to human rights. The point here, again, is not so much the specific claims made by either side, but of Ireland’s clear and consistent position within the block of Western imperial nations.
A more recent controversy highlights Ireland’s global position. Developing countries are currently fighting for the WTO to waive intellectual property restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines, opening the path for these countries to manufacture vaccines themselves. The waiver is opposed by wealthier nations, particularly the US and the EU. Ireland — governed at the moment through a coalition between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Greens, but with Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin as Taoiseach — has so far failed to openly endorse the waiver, despite significant public pressure.
In some cases, the Irish government contents itself with unoriginal statements repeating US or EU talking points. After the US government assassinated Qasem Soleimani in a blatant act of aggression, Ireland released a statement that didn’t mention Soleimani’s death at all, but instead condemned Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes. After the passage of a new national security law in Hong Kong, the Minister for Foreign Affairs released an uninspired statement which, in the last sentence, summed up the essence of Ireland’s foreign policy: “I fully endorse the statement issued earlier today by the European Union.” One sometimes wonders why the Irish government bothers releasing its own statements at all when it would be much easier to copy and paste the EU’s. The Chinese side had a much more relevant response: “Like the Irish people, the Chinese people including the people in Hong Kong will never again swallow the bitter fruit of foreign oppression and the nation being divided.” The Irish government has perhaps forgotten that, like Ireland, Hong Kong was itself once a British colony; or perhaps they simply don’t care. They certainly seem content to support the imperialist machinations of the same power that oppressed their own people for centuries.
This shift towards imperialist alignment hasn’t been an easy one; it has been gradually forced onto the Irish people by the political class. In practice, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have pushed for this integration, but Fianna Fáil, at least, has felt the need to make vague overtures towards anti-imperialist politics in rhetoric. In 2019, for instance, the Dáil (Ireland’s legislature) passed a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) bill which would have banned the sale of goods from illegal settlements in occupied territories, including illegal Israeli settlements. Fianna Fáil backed the bill, allowing it to pass. However, the Fine Gael-led government blocked implementation of the bill through executive maneuvering, something that Fianna Fáil certainly knew would happen; the party made no meaningful protest over the blockage. Then, when a new government was formed in 2020, Fianna Fáil agreed not to implement the provisions of the BDS bill, even though they had claimed they would support such a measure in their election manifesto. It’s also notable that Ireland still does not formally recognize the state of Palestine.
I wish to be clear: my contention is not that Ireland is an active imperialist state. Ireland does not engage in direct imperialist aggression itself. In fact, Ireland’s commitment to military neutrality has been impressive, given its linkages to the imperialist bloc. It is notable, for instance, that Ireland remains one of the few European nations not within NATO, and concerns over possible infringements into Irish neutrality contributed to a bumpy road for the EU’s Treaty of Lisbon.
Still, it is undeniable that Ireland, particularly in recent decades, has consistently provided diplomatic and political backing to the imperial projects of the US and the EU; and through Shannon Airport, Ireland has directly aided the US military in its imperialist wars. That Fine Gael has backed this approach is no surprise; the tragedy is that Fianna Fáil, once an anti-imperialist party, has so completely lost touch with its founding principles.
Anti-Imperialist Struggle Continues
There remains a real, deeply-felt anti-imperialist consciousness in Ireland.
The US military use of Shannon Airport has been met with constant, unwavering protest from the early 2000s to today. Ireland saw significant protests against the Iraq War, and while the Irish government claimed neutrality in the war, it faced significant pressure over its de facto alignment with the US. An Irish Times article from 2004 provides an evergreen explanation for why successive Irish governments have allowed ongoing US military use of Shannon despite public pressure: “Diplomatic sources point out that Ireland relies heavily on inward investment by US corporations. ‘If you openly came out against the US, you would damage that access to Corporate America.’”
Popular sentiment on behalf of Palestine remains especially prominent. The BDS bill may have been squashed, but it’s hard to imagine another Western country where the bill would earn majority support in parliament, or where an essentially right-wing party would feel pressured by the political landscape to give pretend support to the bill. In the North, murals of solidarity with Palestine abound, and Republicans fly the Palestinian flag next to the Irish tricolor; in response, Unionists fly the Israeli flag.
Independent left-wing politicians have had consistent electoral success while voicing public anti-imperialist critiques. Clare Daly, elected as an Irish representative to the European Parliament, recently voiced a powerful critique of hypocrisy in the EU’s approach to Russia. Daly has previously openly defended Venezuela’s elections as democratic — and was elected to the European Parliament after making those statements. There was significant opposition from left-wing representatives to the government’s decision to recognize Guaidó as the president of Venezuela. The independent Catherine Connolly questioned the decision to “recognize a self-appointed person as President of Venezuela.” In the US, the most supposedly left-wing politicians would never dare to make these kinds of statements; in Ireland, the politicians who make them are re-elected. Indeed, Catherine Connolly is currently the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, or chairperson, of the Dáil.
This popular anti-imperialist sentiment and consistent opposition by principled left-wing politicians have probably played a role in keeping Ireland officially neutral in military conflict. But it hasn’t been enough to prevent Ireland’s slow slide into an open diplomatic alliance with imperialist Western powers.
A more effective left-wing opposition is desperately needed — one that is disciplined, firmly anti-imperialist, and above all united. The downfall of the Irish left has long been its own fractiousness, its own divisions and infighting. In the short term, Sinn Féin is clearly the left-wing force with the greatest chance of winning an election, but to form a government it will likely need the support of smaller left parties and left-wing independents.
But elections are not the only site of struggle. In the meantime, anti-imperialist critiques need to be fiercely leveled at the current government, and the complicity of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in Western imperialism needs to be brought into the light. On the left, anti-imperialist analysis needs to be deepened. Popular consciousness needs to be awakened, the people educated on both the history and ongoing realities of global anti-imperialist struggles.
By no means is the continuance of Ireland’s current imperialist alignment a foregone conclusion. But this alignment will only be overcome through a sustained and principled anti-imperialist struggle by the Irish people, a struggle that understands that true freedom for Ireland depends not only on national reunification but on the complete defeat of global imperialism.
From the foundation of the Irish state, the Irish anti-imperialist struggle has never ceased, but it has gone through periods of significant decline. It seems now to be on the rise, and the traditional political powers of Ireland seem to be experiencing their own decline. It is my hope that this struggle will be victorious, and it is my belief that it can be — but a victory for the anti-imperialist forces will mean leaving behind these parties that have so easily moved towards alignment with imperialism.
Fine Gael will need to be defeated, left in the dustbin of history, and, despite its history, so will Fianna Fáil.
