The Wren Report

The rise of nationalism is not a uniquely Irish problem, but it is an Irish problem. The idea that we can continue to ignore it and there will not be consequences will not wash.

We can look around the world and see countless countries who did not push back against nationalist politicians and watch as each country moved further and further toward supporting them.

The obvious case study is the United States. When Donald Trump first arrived on the political stage his Republican opponents could see who he was. Marco Rubio called him a “con artist”, JD Vance called him “America’s Hitler”, Ted Cruz said he “lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth”, and yet all these men now fervently support him.

In the UK, Nigel Farage seems to be in pole position to take over as Prime Minister at the next general election, despite being the lead voice behind the disaster of Brexit. In France, Le Pen’s party seems poised to take the Presidency from Macron and the list goes on.

Every country on this list has something in common, the rise of nationalism that led to the rise of these individuals was not taken seriously until it was too late.

Ireland sits at the start of this cycle now. Nationalism is rising on our streets. All the movement is missing is a charismatic leader. Irish political leaders can’t keep banking on the hope that one won’t emerge.

We need to be clear, loving your country isn’t nationalism, it’s patriotism. Last weekend we saw fantastic scenes of Irish patriotism as the Irish team beat Hungary. Saying I’ve watched Troy Parrott’s winner 100 times is not an exaggeration and that is saying nothing of the countless videos I’ve watched of pub CCTV footage of the celebrations across the country. It made me feel even prouder to be Irish.

Nationalism isn’t about being proud to be Irish. It is about being exclusionary. It thrives where governments fail to address structural issues.

Instead of any level of awareness from the Irish government examining how then Prime Minister David Cameron got baited into calling the Brexit referendum, we see the government falling into the same traps laid by the right of Irish politics.

All it took was one bad Presidential campaign.

Within a week of the inauguration of Catherine Connolly as President, this government were out telling everyone how immigration numbers need to be limited.

Surely, we can all admit that this is a transparent move. This government is prepared to cede ground to nationalism for electoral gains.

What distinguishes nationalism from patriotism is not intensity of feeling, it is intent. Patriotism is something that brings this country together. It is our history, our culture, our identity. Nationalism doesn’t look to bring us together. Instead, it looks for enemies.

You can be sure, it doesn’t have to look far. First it’s migrants, that’s the easy one. Label everyone who doesn’t look like us as ‘others’. Then it’s just minorities in general, look at Hungary, people of the LGBTQ+ community are consistently targeted. Next, it’s journalists, NGO’s and anyone or anything else that raises the ire of the angry and the misinformed. It’s a great trick, the target list shifts but the script stays the same. Point the finger, demonise the subject, and claim that only nationalism can protect the state.

Where does it leave Ireland?

It leaves us with a choice.

A crossroad where intervention is more important than ever.

None of the big three parties seem to have the appetite to take this nationalism on. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael look happy to lean to the right and Sinn Féin are not much better.

The left bona fides that Sinn Féin like to claim, when it suits them, seem to fade away when it comes to the issue of migration.

What we are left with is a vacuum of leadership.

We have a role now to push our politicians to provide this leadership. It’s not good enough for any of our major political parties to move straight to populism. Albeit, some were already there.

Where is the outrage about Irish flags being used in our towns and villages to directly intimidate people. The Minister for Justice isn’t asleep on this issue. He’s hiding from it. Our laws are clear, these flags are not allowed. Our morals need to be clear too. These flags are being used in direct opposition to what the Irish flag stands for, and that is unity.

The flag doesn’t belong to any one person or any one group. You should be hearing that from every senior politician in this country, it’s unacceptable that you’re more likely to hear it from a blog.