So something to note about this, where it comes from and where its going - you are right to focus in on the NGOs, as if they get their money from being "counter-extremism" and "disinformation" specialists, they really want a supply of these things to meet the demand. There is also the bizarre dynamic regarding Europe and importing foreign cultural disputes into Ireland, a sort of struggle envy. There is no Eric Zemmour or Marine Le Pen domestically, so they have to invent the spectre of the possibility - and it gets more and more ridiculous every time, hunting for the smallest possible things to make a huge deal over. Usually a backbencher or independent spouting off about taboo thoughts regarding immigration or the Travelers, usually only because events or constituents corner them into doing so to begin with. All of this can be explained by the vampiric types who run the consensus of Irish public life, their incentives and biases, in all of the institutions.
The question I have more trouble with, however, is what regular people actually think. Yes, self censorship happens, but there is an almost bizarre passivity amongst the Irish lower middle and middle class in not reacting against some of this stuff, and almost no media appetite whatsoever for opposition, with no markets identified. This is not the case in basically any other western country, where there are no institutions at all for opposition. Even Canada has a viable centre-right political party and strong regional identities that push back against the centralizing liberal project. You can blame Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail for defanging any opposition to the NGO consensus, by absorbing cultural conservatives into their midst and then ignoring them, but it goes beyond that. You can blame the Church for being allowing itself to be a punching bag (its unreal what Trocaire, for example, gets up to these days). You can blame the dissident right itself for its feeble organizational muscle. But what seems most frustrating, and disturbing, is that it may very well be the case that things won't get better, that the consensus is genuinely popular (I doubt it, though), that opposition will be futile.
I'm not sure at this point where it would come from - young men, maybe, but this is very tenuous, and like all young people looking for upwards mobility, they know where status signifiers are, even if they resent it. Rural Ireland, eh, doubtful, it always has been and always will be ignored by those in power, and its identity hasn't ever led to meaningful opposition. The Sinn Fein border base? As long as leadership can pretend like the Brits are the problem, uh, no. I guess the only hope is a mugging by reality.
As always, I proclaim my general ignorance of Irish domestic politics, so please take my opinion for what it is worth (almost nil).
There is a curious analogy here to the alleged far-right 6 January "insurrection" at the US Capitol, during which exactly one person (one of the "insurrectionists" and/or "rioters") was killed by security forces. It was hardly Kent State or the '68 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The difference is that the US mainstream media is now in lockstep *behind* the state and national security agencies, with the exception of local police forces, who are blue-collar and can be conveniently thrown under the bus.
I think there’s a definite similarity in that some kind of movement exists but it’s being blown Wilfully out of proportion for financial and political reasons. Your comments are always insightful despite your lack of familiarity!
So something to note about this, where it comes from and where its going - you are right to focus in on the NGOs, as if they get their money from being "counter-extremism" and "disinformation" specialists, they really want a supply of these things to meet the demand. There is also the bizarre dynamic regarding Europe and importing foreign cultural disputes into Ireland, a sort of struggle envy. There is no Eric Zemmour or Marine Le Pen domestically, so they have to invent the spectre of the possibility - and it gets more and more ridiculous every time, hunting for the smallest possible things to make a huge deal over. Usually a backbencher or independent spouting off about taboo thoughts regarding immigration or the Travelers, usually only because events or constituents corner them into doing so to begin with. All of this can be explained by the vampiric types who run the consensus of Irish public life, their incentives and biases, in all of the institutions.
The question I have more trouble with, however, is what regular people actually think. Yes, self censorship happens, but there is an almost bizarre passivity amongst the Irish lower middle and middle class in not reacting against some of this stuff, and almost no media appetite whatsoever for opposition, with no markets identified. This is not the case in basically any other western country, where there are no institutions at all for opposition. Even Canada has a viable centre-right political party and strong regional identities that push back against the centralizing liberal project. You can blame Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail for defanging any opposition to the NGO consensus, by absorbing cultural conservatives into their midst and then ignoring them, but it goes beyond that. You can blame the Church for being allowing itself to be a punching bag (its unreal what Trocaire, for example, gets up to these days). You can blame the dissident right itself for its feeble organizational muscle. But what seems most frustrating, and disturbing, is that it may very well be the case that things won't get better, that the consensus is genuinely popular (I doubt it, though), that opposition will be futile.
I'm not sure at this point where it would come from - young men, maybe, but this is very tenuous, and like all young people looking for upwards mobility, they know where status signifiers are, even if they resent it. Rural Ireland, eh, doubtful, it always has been and always will be ignored by those in power, and its identity hasn't ever led to meaningful opposition. The Sinn Fein border base? As long as leadership can pretend like the Brits are the problem, uh, no. I guess the only hope is a mugging by reality.
As always, I proclaim my general ignorance of Irish domestic politics, so please take my opinion for what it is worth (almost nil).
There is a curious analogy here to the alleged far-right 6 January "insurrection" at the US Capitol, during which exactly one person (one of the "insurrectionists" and/or "rioters") was killed by security forces. It was hardly Kent State or the '68 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The difference is that the US mainstream media is now in lockstep *behind* the state and national security agencies, with the exception of local police forces, who are blue-collar and can be conveniently thrown under the bus.
I think there’s a definite similarity in that some kind of movement exists but it’s being blown Wilfully out of proportion for financial and political reasons. Your comments are always insightful despite your lack of familiarity!