Sir, – One of the most compelling lessons of Jeremy Corbyn's rise to power in the UK was the way in which the mainstream media outlets completely missed what was happening and even when the evidence was in front of them – not least Mr Corbyn's two landslide victories in the Labour Party's leadership elections – they continued to deny anything significant was taking place. Judging by Pat Leahy's article ("Fine Gael and Fianna Faáil still rule the roost", Opinion & Analysis, August 26th), Irish media outlets risk making the same mistake.
The reason Jeremy Corbyn has been so successful in mobilising support is that, like Bernie Sanders in the United States, he is offering a clear left-wing alternative to the dominant neoliberal narrative of the last 30 years. This is a message that has resonated with millions of people, especially young people, in the UK after years of austerity.
Your columnist seems to suggest that somehow the Irish electorate is different to its European counterparts and more tolerant of the existing political parties. A comforting theory, perhaps, but improbable.
Like young people abroad, Irish teenagers who were just leaving school when the financial crisis hit 10 years ago are now in their late twenties, still living at home and working in precarious jobs; those who were in their twenties then, if they have not emigrated, are now struggling in their thirties to pay their rent or save for a mortgage. Analysis of voting patterns in the recent UK election has shown that nearly 60 per cent of voters under-40 voted for the Labour Party. They did not do this because of what they read in the mainstream media, which was universally negative about Jeremy Corbyn; they did so because of a huge social media campaign.
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Younger people in Ireland will be only too aware, also via social media, of the effect Mr Corbyn has had in British politics and no doubt hundreds of thousands watched his recent appearance at Glastonbury on TV.
However political change comes about in Ireland, two things are clear – it will not be through a coalition of existing left-wing parties, most of whom are tainted by participation in austerity governments, and the media will be taken by surprise. – Yours, etc,
JEREMY KEARNEY,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
England.