Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

While there may be a sincere motive behind this motion, I have noticed over the last two evenings that much of the debate is laced with charges of political heresy against the Labour Party. When held up to scrutiny, those charges made and the charges inferred in this motion do not stand up to the slightest of scrutiny. Few of those Members opposite who moved this motion and who come into this Chamber to repeatedly make these kinds of charges against the Labour Party have ever had a direct hand, act or part in making the life or conditions of Irish workers better. Can the more vocal and excitable members of the Technical Group ever point to a single significant measure, legislative item or innovation they have developed that ever has made a real and significant difference to those who work for a living? I sincerely doubt it. If the kind of empty rhetoric and sloganeering synonymous with the populist left in Ireland could be translated into real action on jobs and genuine contributions to progressive labour reform and workplace relations, we all would be a sight better off.

The Ireland of the 1913 Lock-out is unrecognisable from the Ireland of today. The Labour Party can point to many monumental achievements in improving the conditions of working people since its foundation in 1912 and theses are more real, principled and practical achievements than the far left can ever claim. Perhaps the Labour Party's most significant achievement is in ensuring that its values have, to one degree or another, become pervasive and have to one extent or another, inside or outside of government, become fundamental to society and to the economy. The trade union movement, which has become a target for, rather than a philosophical ally of the hard left, is now a fundamental part of civil society, respected, consulted and valued by administrations of all political persuasions. This position could not have been envisaged or anticipated by the founders of the labour movement more than 100 years ago. The very centrality of the progressive trade union movement, which is prepared to deal with issues as it sees them, not as it ideally would like them to be, has been of huge benefit to economic development, social progress and to the country's economic fight-back in recent years. The opportunism of those on the far left, who have made careers out of slagging off mainstream organised labour in this country, is frankly sickening when measured against the paucity of their achievements. They can make all of the narrow and base ideological charges they wish about modern day trade unionism and that is fine. However, it was labour values and labour actions that ensured that citizens like me, from working-class backgrounds nationwide, got opportunities never available to their parents and grandparents before them. It would be nigh impossible to attribute any of the gains made by Irish society since 1913 to the platitudinous politics practised by the extreme left and their acolytes, as well as some movers of and speakers on this motion over the past two nights. For the life of me, I cannot recall one single instance. Dare I say - and this is difficult for me to suggest - but it could be argued cogently that Fianna Fáil - between its various periodic efforts to destroy this country's economy - did more to advance opportunities for working people in this State - than some of the predecessors of some of the Members who moved this motion. While this is difficult for me to admit, that is a matter of fact and public record.

I acknowledge this country and its citizens have been through a torrid and horrible period in recent years in its short history as a nation state. However, the values that inspired the 1913 Lock-out and the formation of the labour movement are as relevant today as they were then. These challenges can only be met by a movement that is prepared to evolve and is prepared not to be the hostage of history but rather one that leads change and responds to change in a way that marries the universal principles fought for in 1913 and subsequently with the demands of a radically changing society and an increasingly globalised and complex economy.

A lazy charge is often made against the Labour Party and the trade union movement, in particular by some on the populist left and the quasi-left in this House, that Connolly and Larkin would be ashamed of the Labour Party in the 21st century. I do not know that, but neither does Deputy Higgins or any of his acolytes and erstwhile colleagues on the hard left. I would venture that Connolly and Larkin would have no difficulty whatsoever with a party that has restored the national minimum wage, resurrected joint labour committee legislation, secured basic social welfare payments in unprecedented economic circumstances and, most importantly, understands the central tenet of the left, namely, that the way to dignity and progress in society is to create the conditions for full employment and full participation by all citizens in this Republic, a job that we in the Labour Party and this Government are determined to complete.

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