5 Fianna Fáil and the politics of hubris
- Resource Type
- Book
- Authors
- Murphy, Gary
- Source
- Electoral competition in Ireland since 1987: The politics of triumph and despair. :103-128
- Subject
- Language
Chapter five focuses on the reasons for the political success of Fianna Fáil and the PDs. Pursuing generally neoliberal economic policies which had low corporate and personal levels of taxation at their core this coalition government oversaw an Irish economy which reported spectacular levels of economic success on a whole range of indices. Public spending by government remained high and was imitated by levels of personal spending by an electorate slightly dumbstruck with new found wealth. The ultimate result was that Fianna Fáil was re-elected for a third time in 2007 amidst warnings from some quarters of an impending economic crash, which were dismissed by all parties. Economic boom seemed to presage perpetual Fianna Fáil government and this chapter examines the conditions that would ultimately lead to the political hubris which in no small way contributed to the collapse of the Irish economy and the fracturing of the Irish state.
The aim of this book is to assess the quarter century of political competition in the Republic of Ireland from the time of the ending of recession of the 1980s up to the 2011 general election where Ireland was ruled by the Troika and austerity was a by-word for both policy making and how many people lived their lives. This book assesses in a thematic way the forces which shaped the decisions that political elites in Ireland took over the course of this crucial quarter century in modern Irish life. It examines the nature of electoral competition in modern Ireland by focusing on a number of key themes that shaped the decisions of Irish politicians. These include the nature of coalition politics in Ireland; the payments to politicians by developers and businessmen that led to a number of tribunals of inquiry; the culture wars over divorce and abortion; the process of the economic collapse to boom and back to collapse cycle that effected the lives of so many Irish people; and the collapse of Ireland’s natural party of government, Fianna Fáil. It analyses why Irish citizens have been comfortable in continuing to vote for traditional political elites despite the failures of the Irish state and explains why it has been so difficult for new parties to emerge.