Independent TDs play a uniquely outsize role in Irish politics. In terms of the scale and influence they have had since the foundation of the State, Ireland stands apart from other western democracies.
Whether as expert cultivators of parish pump politics or acting as kingmakers, the Independent brand runs through Irish political history – only Independent and Labour TDs have sat in all 33 Dáils. Independents could feature prominently in the next, the 34th Dáil, to be elected next Friday.
Some 40 per cent of governments have been minority administrations, “and in almost all cases Independents have had a role to play in their formation and maintenance,” writes Liam Weeks, a politics lecturer at UCC, in his 2017 book, Independents in Irish Party Democracy.
“The big thing is that political parties work with them,” says Weeks. “If parties didn’t work with them, they wouldn’t have much of an influence; they’d be ostracised.”
Irish politics is full of examples of Independents trading their vote for political treasure: the archetypical Tony Gregory/Charlie Haughey (1982) and Jackie Healy-Rae/Bertie Ahern (2007) deals being the standard bearers.
In the last Dáil, when the Government was nervous about numbers during a series of votes around the ending of the eviction ban, the Regional Independent Group sought and received a number of concessions on housing from the Coalition.
The success of Independents is aided by structural, institutional and cultural tailwinds: small constituencies, low barriers to nomination, an abiding anti-party sentiment in the electorate, the diminished role of ideology in the Civil War parties and proportional representation itself.
All of this means “the system is just set up for Independents,” says David Farrell, a politics professor at UCD. Smaller parties have come and gone, but Independents, who in any other system “would long since have clubbed together and formed a political party”, have persisted, he says.
Polling suggests the next Dáil will like have a large number of Independents. Last week’s Irish Times/Ipsos B & A poll showed 20 per cent of likely voters support Independents, up four points since September.
This may mean Independents will again have a role to play in deciding the next government. Exactly what role is hard to say. There are different blueprints, from the 2016 arrangement that saw Independents take full Cabinet roles, to the more traditional support for governments from outside formal coalitions. A market with both willing buyers and sellers of votes may be one of the most prominent features of the political landscape after next Friday’s general election.
The Irish Times joined Independents in three constituencies to assess the current appeal of their brand and what post-election role they see themselves playing.
– Jack Horgan-Jones
Kildare South
“The home of the horse, the home of the soldier.” This is how Cathal Berry brands his Kildare South constituency.
While there weren’t any horses on the streets of Kildare town on Thursday, it did seem that almost everyone who Berry canvassed around its busy central square had some connection to the Army, which has its largest base at the nearby Curragh camp.
This is no bad thing for Berry, a former soldier in the elite Army Ranger Wing turned doctor, turned soldier again, before being elected as an Independent TD in 2020. He estimates that around half his core team, who fan out around the town clad in pink hi-vis jackets for the canvass, have a military connection.
He has carved out a space advocating for Defence Forces reform and military and security matters in the Dáil. He was a prominent member of the Regional Group of Independents, a Dáil technical group that has tended to support the Government on key votes.
If sentiment on the ground in Kildare town is anything to go by, Berry may pick up preferences from voters alienated from the big parties.
Tucking into shakshuka in the homely Firecastle cafe, Terri O’Donovan struck up a conversation with Berry and The Irish Times after overhearing him talking about Independent politics. A long-time Fianna Fáil voter, the Covid lockdowns turned her against mainstream parties.
Independents, says the former schoolteacher who now works in private business, are “able to speak with their own voice and don’t have to toe the party line or agenda”.
O’Donovan professes herself to be a “huge fan” of Robert F Kennedy jnr, the vaccine sceptic scion of the US political dynasty and now Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary.
To Berry, she says “health freedom is extremely important”, adding that she is uncomfortable with what she sees as a “push on vaccines”. Berry, the doctor, emphasises the importance of medical consent in a carefully worded reply before heading out to the streets.
The four-seat Kildare South constituency has some complicating features: first, the re-election of Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl is automatic, meaning only three seats are up for grabs. Second, an internal battle led Patricia Ryan TD to quit Sinn Féin. She is now running as an Independent. Martin Heydon, the Fine Gael Minister of State for Agriculture, is expected to retain his seat, with the fight for the other two seats being a battle.
Berry paints himself as a pragmatist who can work across parties, pointing to access he gets to leaders of the big parties. He argues that the delivery of higher upper limits for Croí Cónaithe vacant home grants was a key feature of his maiden term in the Dáil.
“We have better access to party leaders than the backbencher TDs and parties themselves,” he says.
On Kildare’s square, Tom, a retired pensioner who prefers not to give his surname, says he has always voted Fine Gael but thinks he will opt for Berry on Friday. He is frustrated by vacant homes around him.
“You can only build so many houses with the labour force we have. But why not bring all those houses that just need renovation back in? And they’re all good houses,” he says.
Exiting an Aldi supermarket in the town, Colin Miller, another former soldier, says he has a fair idea of who will get his vote but his preferences aren’t fully decided. Independents might not have as much influence on national policy but “punch above their weight” in providing for the constituency, he says. He credits Berry with moving defence issues up the national agenda.
If re-elected, Berry thinks Independent TDs who form a “moderate caucus” should meet before fielding any calls from larger parties seeking to form a government to thrash out the terms of any potential support.
Who makes the call – and on what terms – remains to be seen.
– Jack Horgan-Jones in Kildare
Meath West
“God bless Dev and McEntee, they gave us strong bread and a half ounce of tea.”
This line, from a parody song dating from the Emergency, was retold to The Irish Times in Trim on Wednesday by Paddy Christie. The 84-year-old, who lives in Dublin but hails from Rathmolyon, a village outside the Co Meath town, recalls times when Fianna Fáil were a single-party government.
Those days of one-party majority governments are long gone. One candidate, councillor Noel French, is hoping to take advantage of the lift in the rising tide for Independents seen in the recent polling.
On Wednesday, the 64-year-old Independent candidate in Meath West was working the streets on a canvass in Castleabbey, a housing estate in Trim.
Like any seasoned canvasser, the genial Trim politician follows a number of techniques to maximise his own time and that of his constituents on the doorsteps: “If there is writing on the door, I don’t go near it. If there is no car outside, that is a telltale sign that there is no one there. If there is a ‘no junk mail’ sign, I will just leave a card to say I called; I won’t put in my leaflet.”
[ Independent TDs now look like a permanent and sizeable bloc in Irish politicsOpens in new window ]
About one in five doors are opened to French, a rate that is typical of his experience since he began canvassing for the election two weeks ago. “People are at work, which is great,” he says.
The advent of the video doorbell is playing a part. “They can decide to answer or not,” says the local representative, who does not like canvassing after dark as he feels it is unfair on the sick and the elderly.
Leaving Fine Gael to run as an Independent, French won double the quota in the local elections in June. That support was reflected in the positive response he received on the doorsteps on Wednesday evening.
“But remember this is my hometown,” says French.
He gives a brief population profile of the Meath West constituency: Kells accounts for 15 per cent of the population, Trim 35 per cent, and Navan – “a fresh canvassing ground for me,” says French – 45 per cent.
French is facing stiff competition in this three-seat constituency. Sitting TDs, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín and Sinn Féin’s Johnny Guirke, are seeking re-election, and French will be eyeing the seat left by Fine Gael’s Damien English, who is leaving politics. Should he take it ahead of Fine Gael’s Linda Nelson Murray, based in Navan, and Fianna Fáil’s Aisling Dempsey, daughter of former cabinet minister Noel, it could represent a shift in support nationally to Independents, as polling suggests.
On his canvass, an 80 year-old woman pulls across her sliding door to offer an insight into why Independent TDs continue to be an enduring and significant presence in Irish politics.
“Will we get €350 pension per week for old aged pensioners?” she asks French.
“My husband had MS [multiple sclerosis] in his 80s. He worked all his life but he didn’t get the disability benefit; he got nothing – it was disgraceful. I decided then that I would never back Fianna Fáil after that, it was so degrading,” says the woman.
“Anyone who has worked and contributed to the system should be looked after,” French tells her, but cautions that he is only one voice.
“Every voice counts; it makes a difference,” she replies.
Speaking later, French rejects the notion that a vote for an Independent is a wasted vote.
“That’s what the papers are saying and I heard it was said on a canvass for another candidate, but an Independent is probably stronger than a backbench TD,” he says.
“If I can do it at council level, I can do it at government level. Will it be easy? No. Can I get stuff done? Yes, I think I can,” he says.
French has an open mind about potential approaches he may receive for his support, post-election, on the formation of a Government, should he be elected in Meath West.
“I will talk to everyone to get stuff done, to get changes done, to make people’s lives better,” he says. “I have both local and national ideas that I would like to discuss.”
– Stephen Farrell in Trim
Wexford
Mick Wallace is not wearing his trademark pink T-shirt when he turns up at Market Square in Enniscorthy.
“It got wet,” he quips, as he begins a canvass between the downpours on the pedestrianised Rafter Street with his entire canvassing team: Seánie O’Shea.
With his familiar curly long white hair and dangling earring, Wallace is instantly recognised.
Everyone talks as if they have known him for years, including Bernadette O’Brien. “When I say I know Mick, I know him from television and that,” she says.
“He just seems to be a bit like ourselves, looking for things to be done, for the ordinary person, not for the big man. And for Wexford. And we need someone to do something for this town here. This town is dead on its feet.”
Many people note his involvement in soccer, approaching to talk about relatives and friends who played the game.
During good-humoured slagging with locals, he is told that he is giving a politician’s answer.
“I am not a politician. I just happened to get elected a few times. I am not a politician, that’s a slur on anybody’s character,” he says, to laughter.
Anthony Russell who won an All-Ireland medal playing for Wexford Youths, embraces Wallace warmly. Anthony’s three-year-old son Matthew has just had his hair cut.
“You tell your Mammy and Daddy to leave your hair alone and let it grow,” says Wallace.
“No,” Matthew replies instantly.
Wallace’s trademark anti-establishment views remain intact. He would stay in opposition, though he would consider a ministerial role in a Sinn Féin-led government.
“Would Sinn Féin be good in government? I don’t know but we have had Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for 103 years,” he says.
The discussion is interrupted by Rose O’Dwyer who approaches to ask how he is, following the death of his son Joseph in June, from cancer.
“I’m voting for Mick because I think he talks sense,” she says.
Laura Kelly tells Wallace she is giving her number one to Sinn Féin.
“Well that’s okay. Sure give me the two then,” he replies. “Fair enough”, she responds. “We need change. Everything needs changing – it really does.”
Fifteen candidates – five Independents are running in Wexford, once a five-seater, but now a four-seater in this election following a redrawing of constituencies. Three TDs are looking to retain their seats: Independent Verona Murphy, Fianna Fáil’s James Browne and Sinn Féin’s Johnny Mythen.
Labour’s George Lawlor hopes to retain the seat vacated by Labour’s Brendan Howlin. Fine Gael’s Paul Kehoe is standing down, with Bridín Murphy and Cathal Byrne vying to hold the party seat.
“We are doing very little this time because I actually really only decided last Friday and I only ordered leaflets on Saturday and got them on Tuesday,” says Wallace.
“I got the van done up yesterday and we’re using the posters from the European elections,” with a few new ones ordered.
Verona Murphy’s posters, prominently displayed, state simply “Verona” and “representing people not parties”.
Wallace believes Murphy “will have a bigger impact on me than I will on her – she’s worked very hard. I don’t agree with her politics but she’s a hard worker and people like her.”
He expects Murphy and Fianna Fáil’s Browne to be elected, and “a dogfight between the rest of us”.
Murphy, one of the most prominent Independents in the 33rd Dáil, believes many more people will vote Independent than did in June’s local elections.
The electorate see her “Wexford Independent Alliance as a sure template for Independents to be involved in government”, she says.
“They think that the Independents are the only ones with any common sense – or cop on, as many put it.”
Murphy dismisses any suggestions that Independents create instability.
“I will support any government structure that involves common sense.”
A member of the regional technical grouping for almost five years, she says the group were “cohesive, practical and many supported Government consistently, while I based my votes on what was best for the people of Wexford”.
She has great respect for Wallace although they are “poles apart politically”, she says.
“I have no doubt that he will add colour regardless, as he is just that type of person, but I certainly would not underestimate him.”
– Marie O’Halloran in Enniscorthy
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
- Sign up to our Inside Politics newsletter to get the behind-the-scenes take direct to your inbox
