by Ryan “Dickie” Thompson for Disruptarian.com
I was walking along the Barrow with a takeaway coffee when the old proverb hit me like a bell: democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what is for dinner. It sticks because it is true. A republic exists to protect the sheep. Elections matter, but rights and limits matter more. Ireland faces that choice again, and it is not abstract. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are offering a steady, pro-nation path. Catherine Connolly, backed by the Socialist Party, is offering crowd rule dressed as compassion.
A democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner
If you want the backstory, see the original analysis at AthyIreland.com: FF/FG’s Real-World Nationalism vs. Connolly’s Crowd Rule. This piece is my Disruptarian take, plain language, no fluff, the same core facts, and a sharper edge.
A republic first, a crowd second
Ireland is a constitutional republic that uses elections to choose leaders. That order matters. The constitution sets the guardrails. Property rights, speech, conscience, due process. These keep the wolves from voting the sheep off the menu. When activists flip the order and worship the word “democracy,” what they really mean is crowd power. Fifty percent plus one becomes a trump card for every grievance. You know what? That is not liberty. That is roulette.
FF/FG: practical nationalism that keeps the lights on
Say what you like about Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. They are not perfect. But they treat national interest as a duty, not a hashtag. Their model is simple and it works.
- Jobs and investment: Keep Ireland attractive for real businesses. Stable tax rules within global agreements. Clear law. Talent. EU market access. In the real world that means factories, labs, service hubs, and paychecks.
- Housing: Use every lever. Public builds, private builds, planning fixes, and targeted buyer tools like Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme. It is a build-more approach, not a blame-more approach.
- Neutrality: Stay out of foreign entanglements that do not serve Irish people. Support peacekeeping on Irish terms. Keep capacity credible so neutrality has teeth, not just slogans.
- Budgets: Big capital spend where it counts, cautious with windfall tax receipts, steady on fiscal credibility.
This is not ideological theater. It is stewardship. It is what a small, proud country does when it cares about families more than crowds. It is the boring middle lane that keeps a nation standing when everyone else is busy yelling.
Connolly and the Socialist Party: morality plays, not supply chains
Catherine Connolly is the candidate of movement energy. The Socialist Party cheers her on. Their message is loud and familiar. Break the “crony capitalist” model. Expand state ownership. Regulate and tax more. Mobilize the streets. Use the presidency as a megaphone to shame the government into surrender.
They wrap it with two strong Irish words: neutrality and compassion. I respect both. But watch the trick. Neutrality becomes a veto on any sober conversation about defense capacity. Compassion becomes cover for policies that feel good and collapse on contact with reality. Housing by decree. Prices by decree. Investment by decree. We have seen this film. It ends with shortages and finger-pointing.
The presidency is not a rally stage. It is a steady role inside the constitution. Turn it into a broadcast tower for a permanent campaign and you weaken the office, the process, and the calm that a republic needs.
Two wolves at the ballot box
Here is the difference that matters. A republic asks first: does this policy protect the individual from the stampede? A crowd asks: do we have the numbers to force it? Connolly’s backers celebrate the second question. FF/FG still try to answer the first.
- On housing, FF/FG push to expand supply with everyone who can build. Connolly’s camp prefers purity tests and slow pipelines buried in paperwork. Sermons do not pour concrete.
- On the economy, FF/FG protect the environment that produces jobs and training. Connolly’s camp treats business as a suspect to interrogate. You cannot threaten investment and then complain when it leaves.
- On foreign policy, FF/FG keep Ireland out of wars and out of grandstanding. Connolly’s camp wants moral theater first, Irish interest later.
If two wolves can outvote a sheep on any given day, what do you call that? Popular, maybe. Just, no.
The MAGA cousin: results, not rituals
I am an American who spends a lot of time in Ireland. I see a pattern. The MAGA frame under Trump was not a philosophy seminar. It was a to-do list. Cut junk rules. Lower taxes where you can. Produce energy at home. Fix trade deals that sell out workers. Avoid new wars. Put your own people first.
FF/FG are not American conservatives. But they share that practical lens. Ireland first. Jobs first. Homes first. Peace first. The tone is different. The instinct is the same. Government is a tool, not a church. Markets build faster than ministries. National interest is not a dirty phrase.
What did the MAGA list deliver before the pandemic hit? A 50-year low in unemployment. Record median household income. Rising domestic energy production that made the country harder to bully. The Abraham Accords that lowered the temperature in a hot region without a new war. You can dislike the man and still admit the scoreboard.
Socialism on the scoreboard: the bear keeps eating the campers
Now compare that to the socialist template. Price controls, rationing, party favors, and a shrinking private sector. The pattern does not change. Venezuela. Cuba. Smaller examples across Europe and Latin America when the State tries to run what people run better. Inflation is like watering down your whiskey. The glass looks full, the kick is gone, and your savings do not mean what they did yesterday.
The Socialist Party says it will be different here. That is what they always say. Then they meet the same wall. You cannot plan your way to prosperity from a conference table. You can only choke it.
Housing: stop yelling at the oven
Ireland’s housing pain is real and raw. You feel it in rent, commutes, deposits, and delays. The answer is not a villain speech. It is more sites, more cranes, more tradespeople, more off-site manufacturing, quicker appeals, and infrastructure delivered before the keys are cut. It is also honest math. If you cut private builders out of the pipeline, you will not fill the gap with speeches. You will just make the queue longer.
FF/FG are at least pulling the levers that move volume. It is not fast enough, and some schemes can distort prices, but the direction is right. Connolly’s supporters want a clean ideological picture and end up drawing a bottleneck.
Neutrality: quiet strength, not loud weakness
Neutrality works when the country is credible and calm. That means enough capacity to guard the shore, enough intelligence to track threats, and enough discipline to keep your head when others lose theirs. It does not mean turning every foreign crisis into a domestic shout-fest. It does not mean using neutrality as a veto on reform. Ireland can be neutral and serious. That is the path FF/FG set. Connolly’s camp confuses volume with virtue.
The Disruptarian test
Here is the test I use and you should too. Does a policy make peaceful people more free and more responsible, or more dependent and more controlled? Does it respect the small gears that keep a country running, like delivery trucks, building permits, payroll calendars, and property rights? Or does it pander to a crowd with a short memory?
By that test, the FF/FG model passes more often than it fails. Connolly’s package fails more often than it passes. Paying taxes to a bigger and bossier State is like handing the town drunk your wallet and hoping he buys groceries instead of whiskey. Now imagine giving him the zoning code and the energy grid.
Choose the Republic
Ireland has earned its place by being sane while others chase drama. Keep that edge. Keep the Republic first. Keep markets open and rules clear. Build so much housing that prices finally blink. Stay neutral with a cool head. Measure policies by outcomes, not by applause.
Two wolves and a sheep can take a vote. A republic says the sheep has rights no vote can erase. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael still act like that matters. Catherine Connolly and the Socialist Party act like the crowd is the constitution. That is a dangerous road.
A personal note
I am an American citizen. I spend a lot of time in Ireland. I cannot vote in your election. I am not here to boss anyone. I am here to tell you what I see from the road and from the ledger. Practical nationalism keeps food on tables and a roof overhead. Crowd rule puts the sheep on the menu.
Ireland deserves better than that. Choose the Republic.
Sources
- AthyIreland analysis referenced: https://athyireland.com/ff-fgs-real-world-nationalism-vs-connollys-crowd-rule/
- Government of Ireland, Housing for All overview: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/dfc6c-housing-for-all/
- First Home Scheme: https://www.firsthomescheme.ie/
- IDA Ireland on FDI and jobs: https://www.idaireland.com/
- OECD global minimum tax, Ireland statements: https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/21dc8-ireland-joins-oecd-international-tax-agreement/
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019 job market review: https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/article/job-market-remains-tight-in-2019.htm
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2019 median household income: https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.html
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, crude oil production series: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbbl_a.htm
- U.S. State Department, Abraham Accords declaration: https://www.state.gov/the-abraham-accords/
- Socialist Party of Ireland, Connolly endorsements and campaign messaging: https://www.socialistparty.ie/
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