Irish Examiner view: Milestone poll for Ireland and Europe

Mon, 06 May, 2024 - 00:30

In just over a month, on June 7, Ireland will go to the polls and we will find out more about the political climate in local councils and euro constituencies. From this Wednesday, the ubiquitous election posters can be erected.

This is the first time voters have been formally asked for their views since the pandemic and the potential outcomes are intriguing. They will act as a bellwether for our general election which has to take place by March 22 next year.

Since 2019, Ireland has maintained a central influence in Europe, not least in its lobbying on behalf of the Palestinians, its influence on the world’s technological titans, and its role as Europe’s data protection policeman.

And, of course, our burgeoning wealth. Those headline figures about potential budget surpluses of €65.2bn have caught the attention of our continental neighbours who are asking whether we can afford to contribute more to the EU project.

For that reason, there may be higher than normal levels of scrutiny to the spending ambitions of Strasbourg and Brussels when our potential MEPs place themselves before the electorate. The current budget, which runs up to 2027, already stands at €1tn but this is deemed insufficient by the strategic thinkers at the Berlaymont.

There is also the issue of enlargement. Twenty years ago the EU expanded by 10 countries — Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. We have promised entry to several more including six in the western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova, and Turkey. This is going to demand more resource from those in a position to pay. That includes us.

French president Emmanuel Macron has said he wants to “at least” double the EU’s spending as part of a “public investment shock”. He thinks the best way to achieve this is to revisit corporation tax, a red line for us in Ireland, or joint borrowing through the creation of eurobonds.

In Ireland we have been spending public money enthusiastically for years thanks to the magic money tree that is corporate receipts. We must now pay close attention to the fiscal policies that will be espoused by parties in the forthcoming campaign.

Those cheques will not be cashed immediately but will become an issue by the end of this decade. And who can say with an iota of certainty what new global challenges lie ahead for us and the ever-increasing union in the next few years?

Some 450m people in 27 countries are eligible to vote for a new European parliament. This may the most important EU election in history. We all need to take it seriously.

Clouds over the Premier League

We enter the final fortnight of a Premier League competition which many people regard as one of the finest title races for years. Two teams, Manchester City and Arsenal, are still in with a shout with 13 days to go. Liverpool, to the disappointment of many in Ireland, have fallen by the wayside, robbing Jurgen Klopp of the chance of a last hurrah.

For the sport’s cheerleaders everything in the garden is rosy. Political figures bask in the reflected sunshine with Keir Starmer taking credit for the transfer of one-time Irishman Declan Rice to the Emirates Stadium.

And yet there are storm clouds gathering. For only the second time in six years there will be no Premier League team in the Champions League final. The English co-efficient totals which govern entry for the following season are at their lowest for seven years. Only two PL representatives — Chelsea and Manchester City — will appear in Fifa’s expanded 32-team Club World Cup in the United States in 2025.

Off-field drama has often obscured the sporting action. Throughout the season there have been relentless arguments about the application of video assisted refereeing (VAR), a widely-hated technical innovation that has sucked the spontaneous joy out of the game. More time has been spent on unravelling accountancy practices, amortisation policies, and whether assets have been properly valued than explaining the deficiencies of a high press, or zonal marking.

In the wings awaits a putative soccer regulator with wide-ranging powers over the game’s governance. Because politicians interfering with sport always ends well.

For some observers the primacy of the Premier League will never be challenged. For others, the game is exhibiting all the symptoms of that old business law: “With growth comes complexity, and with complexity, decay.” In sport the unimaginable sometimes happens. It was 50 years ago that Manchester United, England’s most successful team domestically, were relegated when their former star, Denis Law, backheeled a winner for his new club, Manchester City. This was only six years after United had won the European Cup with George Best in his pomp. Few people could believe the speed of the fall from grace.

But earthly glory can pass very quickly in sport. Football’s administrators face dangerous times in their management of one of the few lucrative industries that Britain has left.

Super troupers

It is to be hoped that the most memorable performances in the five-day jamboree of the Eurovision song contest which starts tomorrow in Malmo, Sweden, take place on the stage rather than in the performative demonstrations which are planned for the city throughout the week.

Swedish police have asked for reinforcements from Norway and Denmark amid calls for Israel to be excluded and for artists to boycott the event which has attracted more than 100,000 visitors. Venues have airport-style scanning and searches and no bags are allowed.

Particular focus will be on Israel’s entry ‘Hurricane’ — originally entitled ‘October Rain’ — sung by Eden Golan. Ireland’s entry, ‘Doomsday Blue’, from Cork’s Bambie Thug will get its airing in tomorrow’s first semi-final.

Former RTÉ presenter, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, writing in the Irish Examiner, said: “Legitimate criticism should be focused on the Israeli government and the army, not on individual Israelis because of their race, rather than what they have said or done. That is racism whatever way you cut it.”

Eurovision’s frothy offering is meant to be a feelgood occasion, which is difficult to achieve in this bloody year. But we can at least attempt it.

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