Una Mullally: Perhaps we are all a bunch of socialists after all
The election campaign suggests people value a booming society over a booming economy
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald launching her party’s general election manifesto. Photograph: Alan Betson
It’s not just the general election campaign that has been fascinating, but also the changes in Irish society and public sentiment that the campaign reflects. If we examine the latest polls showing yet another drop in Fine Gael’s support and yet another rise in Sinn Féin’s support “in the round”, to borrow a phrase from Leo Varadkar, it’s not just about Sinn Féin. Their popularity is obvious, but this is also about a broader shift. The Sinn Féin surge is a surge within a surge, and that broader surge is to the left.
While how we categorise and describe the traditional binaries of left- and right-wing politics have changed, what the Irish electorate seems to be on the cusp of demanding is a particular type of change that chimes more with left-wing ideas and ideals than the centre-right floundering it has experienced from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. We may not see that straight away in the make-up of the next government, but it’s happening.