Working Class Action
Vote NO to Nice but for the right reasons
First published in Fourthwrite Magazine, Issue 11.
by Mags Glennon
The absence of a socially progressive anti-Nice campaign has been highlighted by the recent furore over the 'hordes of Eastern European immigrants' supposedly massing on the frontiers, poised to flood the Emerald Isle on the passage of a 'Yes' vote.
In the last three European votes - the Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice treaties - the 'No' banner has been carried by the National Platform group. The Platform is a watchdog body fronted by academic Anthony Coughlan, which comes to life for each referendum. It's main arguments centre on Irish sovereignty, nationality and the constitution.
Apart from party political campaigning, namely of Sinn Féin and the Greens, the number of progressive or independent Left voices have been scant - the exception being a few voluntary groups focussing on military neutrality. Despite the obvious need there has been no radical political critique of increasing European integration. The traditional liberal - not left - umbrella stretching from Labour, through the trade unions and academia, to the majority of NGOs, maintain a strong pro-European integration line which precludes any political questioning of the motives and policies underlying the process. The lack of a strong and politically progressive anti-Nice alliance has increasingly forced the centre of the debate to the right.
The immigration issue was originally raised by the National Platform, exposing a commitment given by Brian Cowan to the EU to permit free movement of people to Ireland immediately on accession of the new members. The Platform later moderated it's position somewhat by saying free movement should apply in all, or none, of the current EU states. The propaganda point was quickly seized upon by the 'No to Nice' campaign, a group solely run by the extreme anti-abortion organisation Youth Defence. The main spokesperson of 'No to Nice' is Justin Barrett, whose views are approvingly quoted on European far-right websites. Indeed in 2000 Barrett featured as a Euro-sceptic speaker at rallies in Rome run by the fascist 'Forza Nuova' group. On the immigration question he has said "If it is not to the fore in people's minds now, it will be by the end of the campaign", indicating that a strategy stressing xenophobia has been decided. Viewed within this political context his expressed worries about the rights and welfare of Irish workers ring a wee bit hollow.
It is clear that someone within the current anti-Nice milieu viewed the raising of an 'immigration scare' as a vote-winning ploy and also took the decision to run it as the first propaganda blast of the campaign. During the last Nice referendum immigration arose just once; when posters from the "Irish Peoples Party" grouplet appeared in Dublin stating that a 'Yes vote' would lead to 300,000 immigrants 'flooding Ireland'. These were swiftly removed by local anti-fascists.
Since then the general election saw the election of a number of candidates who gained the headlines by beating the anti-immigrant drum. In the intervening year it became clear that a well judged playing of a simplistic 'race card' - as in the case of Fianna Fail's Noel O Flynn - could bring political dividends, with no disciplinary consequences from the party.
Instead of responding politically to the views presented by the anti-Nice/anti-immigration lobby we had the surreal sight of Fianna Fail accusing others of racism. Replies from 'the left' were noticeably lacking. Even simple facts eluded commentators. Surveys have shown that immigrants contribute far more economically to their host country than they draw from it - for example the British government recently revealed that immigrants contributed £2.4 billion more to the economy that they withdrew from it in benefits. No one chose to mention this in an Irish context.
In reality there are a large number of far more serious issues impacting on the rights and welfare of Irish workers stemming from the Nice treaty. Already Ireland has ceded economic control of interest rates and currency to Europe. If passed Nice would allow for increasing harmonisation of tax rates - even if the Irish people decided to increase taxes for social services such as hospitals or welfare they would not be allowed to do so. The forces in Europe promoting further economic and political integration - the France/Germany axis - aim at a consolidation of free market capitalism across the continent. European big business wishes to exploit the low wages of the Eastern states, allowing an open flight of capital to the East, while refusing workers there the right to earn 'Western' wages by denying them entry to the 'old' EU countries.
While the government argues that rejecting Nice will lead to massive job losses, they neglect to mention that since this government was elected an extra 280 people PER DAY have signed on the dole. Just four months ago we were told that the Celtic Tiger was still robust and that we should re-elect Bertie, but now mass cutbacks in health and education spending are necessary. Clearly we were blatantly lied to. If Nice is rejected the electorate can be blamed for causing unemployment and cuts. If it is passed Eastern European immigrants will be a handy scapegoat for further economic woes.
The scare mongering over immigration, supposedly leading to lower wages and causing unemployment, also conveniently takes the focus off the responsibility of the Irish trade union leadership - all staunchly pro-Nice - to oppose any such developments. Clearly they would be unwilling to do so, lest such a stance undermine the sacred social partnership.
Vote No to Nice but for the right reasons!
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