These are just some interesting reads, these are just thoughts and ideas that I am sharing, of course I am open to having my mind change. Enjoy!

There was never really a political divide of politics in Ireland; it wasn’t until 2011 until there was a notable shift from the mood of the country.

The Irish general election of 2011—held amid economic crisis— saw the collapse of Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fáil’s defeat was among the most extensive experienced by a major party in the history of parliamentary democracy. With Fianna Fáil’s collapse, it seems that the hegemonic political thinking of Ireland has collapsed along with it.

Now with the proliferation of the internet, the creeping Americanisation of politics online which started to seep into Irish politics and with that came a noticeable divide in Irish politics and a rise in far-right politics in Ireland.

The economic crises, along with the rise of internet connectivity, turned Ireland into a new breeding ground for “culture wars” that played out on the internet and now on the streets.

We see communities being used by online groups to radicalise peoples fears, and not recognise that these are social, economic issues and not issues of race, or in other cases a tragic house fire becomes a dog whistle for far-right groups to claim some nasty things happening in a part of the country that they’re not apart of

This next part is a little off-topic, but I digress.

Being from one of the communities that get used as a cudgel to beat home the idea that it is these “others” that are the problem, I know first hand it is not valid. It is terrible community planning; it is rising rents and stagnation in pay and increases in insurance or a myriad of other real problems that are affecting people and communities.

And it is sad to see that solutions to solve the problems of gang violence, or whatever is to increase more policing. And that baffles me when to fund policing requires state funding; it makes you wonder why fewer taxes makes sense when more taxes always seem to be the answer.

So, it would stand to reason that budget could be better spent on improving communities from educational, to giving people something to do.

Rather than policing being the only solution to something that those who are afraid, most of the time never actually experience the problem outside of their computers.

Categories: Politics

Tags: #economic, #farright, #interestingread, #ireland, #politics