By Kevin McLoughlin
DUBLIN — "The remarkable performance of the Militant Labour candidate, Mr Joe Higgins, in Dublin West — who came within striking distance of taking the Fianna Fail seat — was not just a vote against water charges: it was a protest vote by those people in the constituency who suffer at the hands of a grossly unfair and inequitable tax system, who have gained little from the economic boom and who feel betrayed by Labour in government." — Editorial of the Irish Times, April 4.
The boxes for the Mulhuddart area were opened first. The "nice suits" from the establishment parties expected that Joe Higgins would poll well there because of his work as a councillor in that area. Well he did. Out of the 5700 votes cast in Mulhuddart, Joe got more than 3000 — absolutely hammering the other 12 candidates.
However, they fell silent in shock when the boxes from the other areas showed that in fact Joe Higgins was getting votes throughout Dublin West. They thought after the first count was completed that Militant Labour had won the seat.
In the end Fianna Fail held their seat, but only by a mere 370 votes. For them this wasn't a victory; it was survival. Their vote had dropped from 31% to 24%.
In reality this by-election was a huge victory for Militant Labour and working-class people. The effect of the campaign and the result has been electric. It's been discussed not just in the workplaces and communities of Dublin West but throughout Ireland.
The election result and its consequences have dominated political debate in the last week. Most importantly, it showed that real socialist fighters can successfully take on the political establishment. Joe Higgins standing as Militant Labour candidate, focusing primarily on water charges, got the same vote as Fianna Fail, the biggest party in the state, and easily out-polled the current government parties.
Fianna Fail called the by-election giving only the bare three weeks' notice. They were nervous and they had reason to be. We found two responses dominated. Firstly, disgust and disillusionment at the abandonment and betrayal of the area by arrogant politicians. Secondly, warm support for Joe Higgins as a real fighter, particularly on the issue of water charges.
The result has brought local authority water charges, which are a form of unjust double taxation, back on the agenda. It will be a big issue in the general election due in about a year.
The Labour Party were humiliated. Their vote plummeted from 20% down to less than 4%. The slogan from the anti-water charge campaign "You didn't axe the double tax — now watch your vote collapse" was particularly apt for them. They are seen by people to be hypocritical betrayers by their actions in government.
We didn't win the seat in this by-election but we could and should have. Going into the 10th count (the election is by a system of transferable preference voting), Joe Higgins was 140 votes ahead of Brian Lenihan Jnr, the Fianna Fail candidate. The 11th count was the distribution of the Fine Gael candidate Tom Morrissey's vote. This meant that Lenihan ended up with 11,754 and that Joe Higgins was 370 votes short on 11,384.
However, the 10th count saw the distribution of the votes of Tomas MacGiolla of the Workers Party. He had 4880 before he was eliminated from the contest. Only 1458 of these votes went to Joe, the other left-wing candidate; 1700 went to right-wing capitalist parties and 1700 didn't transfer at all.
Before the election Militant Labour approached the Workers Party to agree a vote transfer; we would encourage our supporters to vote No. 1 Joe Higgins and No. 2 Tomas MacGiolla and that they should do the same, vice versa. They refused and thereby left Joe lacking just 370 transfers and allowed Fianna Fail to grab the seat. Their sectarian role has been registered by working-class people, including some of their own supporters.
However, this was a great campaign, the result itself was a victory and Militant Labour can look forward to winning a seat in the general election if we start to prepare now.
[From Militant (London).]