Don’t scare the horses

The Independent had this report on a Davy investor memo on a meeting with Sinn Féin. It is quite revealing.

Pearse Doherty described the party’s economic approach as more like Tony Blair’s ‘New Labour’ than Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.

The document detailed a conversation between senior Davy investors and Mr Doherty who said the Far Right is a concern but “until now it hasn’t materialised in a meaningful manner”.

“Sinn Féin believes it plays an important role in taming this movement as it provides an alternative/viable “voice” to those disillusioned with the current government,” the document said.

And:

 

Sinn Féin may use some of the funding from record levels of corporate tax receipts to invest in housing and infrastructure but in general Mr Doherty said he “fully supports” the Coalition’s approach.

The briefing said Sinn Féin do not believe the introduction of a new 3pc income tax rate on all earnings over €140,000 would “make Ireland less attractive for multinationals in terms of recruiting/retaining talent”.

And:

The briefing said Sinn Féin do not believe the introduction of a new 3pc income tax rate on all earnings over €140,000 would “make Ireland less attractive for multinationals in terms of recruiting/retaining talent”.

…Mr Doherty told investors Sinn Féin’s proposal to introduce an additional 1pc wealth tax on all assets over €1m would be reviewed by an expert tax group if they are in power to “establish its effectiveness and how much it would ultimately contribute to the exchequer”.

The briefing document for investors said Sinn Féin’s policies on housing and banking differ from the current government but noted the party has removed some of “the more extreme policies” they had for both sectors.

And:

The document said Sinn Féin’s “primary objective” is to form a left government but realises current polling trends mean “this isn’t realistic” and they are open to a coalition with all political parties.

When asked about Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil ruling out forming a government with Sinn Féin, Pearse Doherty referred to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil both refusing to enter government with each other previously only for the political goalposts to shift when it mattered.

There’s no question that the tiny hard core of the far-right loath SF. As evidenced by the march this week in Dublin City centre where they were accusing that party of being, as usual, ‘traitors’. Though to what is unclear. There is a deep rooted hostility, in part given the sheer weight of political support that Sinn Féin has. They are the big rival, and worse, one that sits on the centre left, more or less. 

As to the rest, well who has seriously expected SF to do other than what is suggested in the above. They’re not about revolution, and I’m trying to recall if they’ve ever seriously proposed a significant rupture with pre-existing economic structures. Even take a basic litmus test – what nationalisations has the party proposed over the years. So all this is far from unexpected. 

The positive words for a sovereign wealth fund, again hardly unexpected – I’d imagine many of us would support such a measure. Though interesting that they might use some of that for investment in health and housing. A marginal increase on income over €140,000 and the 1pc wealth tax on assets over €1m is unlikely to see them painted as red revolutionaries. That it is near unthinkable that the other largish political parties would do so merely points up how conservative they actually are. And how limited the space for active economic policy making appears to have become in this state. That’s not Sinn Féin’s fault –  though many of us will wonder at how limited their measures are, all things considered, and wonder if they are expanding the space within which economic interventionism and activism can function. But given the scale of the challenges that face this society in terms of housing first and foremost, and health and almost innumerable others, whether Sinn Féin will, if they do achieve power, be able to address them anywhere near fully on this sort of a programme is another matter entirely.