The ULA

I certainly plan to write more about this in the not too distant future.

It struck me first during the local elections a few years ago that there is room for more political parties in the Irish system (due to the success of the PBPA) but the current trend – of very small-scale local organisation being founded, contesting an election or two, then dying off – was not the way to get them into prominence. They mostly suffer from the same problems: lack of financial support which invariably cascades into an inability to get their message across which results in a lack of political support.

But things like the People Before Profit Alliance and the Socialists during the previous Dail, have shown that it is possible for the micro-parties to get along in the system. And this new arrangement, of combining resources to fight on a national level, can only be a good thing.

I can only speculate of course, but it might be possible that they could grab some of the votes that are heading Labour’s way, especially if they can successfully show themselves to be a credible, alternative left-wing option. They’d only win a very small number of seats, I’d put money on one, but they could have a larger effect by taking votes away from others.

I don’t really agree with their politics for the most part, but this kind of movement can only be a good thing in the current political climate, giving people more options, being a different choice. Though the acronym might need a bit of tweaking as a quick Wikipedia search can attest.

More to come when they actually release some information.