/107/ Ireland’s Return to History ft. Colin Coulter

Aufhebunga Bunga

On Ireland's elections.

With Sinn Fein riding high in the polls, are we looking at an upset? Is this a populist upsurge in Ireland, finally, more than a decade after the start of the crisis? We discuss what Ireland's 'end of history' was like and how the 'Celtic Tiger' economy sustained it; and look at how the country was the EU's "model prisoner" of austerity. Are there new stirrings? And what are the prospects for unification? Readings:

• Mary Lou McDonald could take Sinn Féin into the political mainstream, Jason Walsh, The New European
• This Month’s Elections in Ireland Are a Historic Opportunity, Michael Taft, Jacobin
• The End of Irish History, Colin Coulter et al., Manchester UP (Edited book; pdf)