‘New’ politics is simply old politics in a different guise

World of Politics with Harry McGee

So has New Politics been working out, now that it’s not so new? Has Ireland changed so irrevocably in the past four years that our politics is unrecognisable? Has all changed, changed utterly? Or is it more all changed, utterly butterly? Where it’s the same old, same old, with only a few cosmetic changes?

The first obvious point to make is that the more far-reaching changes take place when there is a massive disruptive event that usurps everything, creates instability and turmoil. It’s from the scorched earth of revolutions and civil wars that new institutions and ideas emerge.

It’s a century ago since that happened in Ireland. A new State emerged with a new way of doing things and a new approach. As years turned into decades, they became old institutions with tired and trusted behaviours.

But there has been no shock event since then that has transformed things overnight. There was the ‘Emergency’ of World War II. But that was temporary. We returned to normal service once the rationing and shortages subsided.

There was also the Lemass era when Ireland went from a deeply agrarian and inward-looking State to a more modern and outward-looking one. Free education was also thrown into the mix. In time, they led to huge changes and sowed the seed of the society we have today.

But they weren’t revolutionary, rather evolutionary. Change happened at a slower pace and some of the things in society that had become sclerotic remained so for many years.

The violent conflict in the North was another phenomenon with a seismic impact. A 30-year campaign and 3,000 lost lives is huge, especially in the context of European western democracy and a small island State.

It was omnipresent in all our lives when it was there in the 1970s and 1980s and 1990s. And there were times when it threatened to pull the whole edifice down, during the civil rights marches, after Bloody Sunday, and during the Hunger Strikes.

Of course, it impacted on the society of southern Ireland and coloured our thinking and outlook on the world. But it did not lead to a fundamental change in Irish society south of the border. On an everyday level, institutions and politics and society carried on as they always had. A little like Brexit now, it was a presence, a shadow, darkening clouds. But people kept on what they were doing.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app

The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City  and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.