JOURNAL OF THE IRISH LABOUR HISTORY SOCIETY

ReviewsJohn Horgan, Labour - The Price of Power, (Gill andMacmiVan, Dublin; 1986),'pp. 191, £6;95 ~.This book is not a scholarly analysis of the history,philosophy or performance of the Labour Party. It is,however, a readable and frequently gossipy stUdy of theparty from the mid-1960s to mid-1980s. Within the restrictiveparameters of the book there are thoughtprovoking sections on organisation, fmance;-trade unionsand electoral strategy. Of these the treatment of theparty's Commission on Electoral Strategy is superiorand more comprehensive. There are also .some goodpen sketches of many well known party and ex -partypersonalities.The book is marred.by.a number. of inaccuracies,the most glaring of which require attention. Horganrefers to John Ryan scraping home in 1977 following an87% transfer from DavidMolony of Fine Gael (p.9). Infact Ryan was easily elected and Molony was not acandidate. Miclc Lipper of Limerick ran as a Labourcandidate in the Donagh O'Malley by-election in 1968and not in 1973 as stated (p. 63). David Thomley losthis seat in 1977 not 1973 (p. 68). Senator Chris Kirwanis accused of 'voting against security legislation' therebylosing the Labour Whip (p.1l7). In fact, Kirwan andDeputy Michael Bell both lost the Labour Whip whenthey voted against the first 1982{3 Budget. Neither JoeBermingham (Kildare) nor John Ryan (North Tipperary)were elected in 1969 (p. 173). Both were firstelected in 1973. The unkindest cut of all! I received34% of the first preference vote in the 1985 LocalElection, not a mere 22% as stated (p. 14)! Such lackof attention to detail renders the book useless forreference purposes. .For some of the years covered by this book Horganwas a Labour Senator and later a Labour Deputy. I amaware from my personal contacts wi th rum that he holdsa politically centrist position and his examination of theLabour Party should be viewed in this context. Practicalityand professionalism would probably summariseHorgan's outlook and these are desirable ingredientsbut they must be held in conjunction with firm socialistobjectives of transforming society lest they degenerateinto dangerous and unprincipled opportunism. Somequotations will best illustrate Horgan's position.He writes of a 'maximum appreciation' of the factthat Labouf'operates in a-hostile environment, that'labour strategists have spent too much time analysingthe economic and social structures of society and toolittle time looking at the political structures'. It is notsurprising, therefore, that he later warns of the 'mythologyof1969' and of the 'real risk of attempting to dragthe party back to an Ireland that no longer exists andperhaps did not exist even then'.This is followed by a very muddled examination ofdefinitions of the working class - his italics: He urgesthat Labour should now look at some of its mostche~ished sacred cows in the light of the degree towhich - if at all - they contribute to what should be thetwo key objectives of the socialist society: ·~economicefficiency and distributive justice'. Socialism to him is,apparently, defmable as achieving 'equality and personalfreedomS' .The following sentence reveals perhaps most clearly.Horgan's ideology: 'People for whom belief in equalityis the dominant political motivation are a large andvaluable constituency, and if Labour neglects them topreach a hoary rhetoric conceived in the midclle of theindustrial revolution a century or more· ago, it willdeserve to lose them'. After eight years of Reaganismand Thatcherism, and in view of the daily threat to hardwonbasic trade union rights as exemplified in thePackard dispute, such an outburst from one describinghimself as a socialist is nothing short of astonishing.The book seems to reflect the new waveofrevisionismamong some British intellectuals. Many of thetraditional concepts and values of the Labour Movement,according to this new orthodoxy, must be discarded,especially conceptions of socialism. Connollyand Larkin are thus taboo. Not once does Horganmention Connolly, the party's founder and whose nameis invoked in the Labour Party Constitution.My opposition to such views does not imply nonrecognitionthat much has changed and that analyses ofcapitalist society and the alternatives need constant reexamination.Space does not permit further commentin this controversial area except to state that Connolly' slife and teachings still have a sharp relevance for theexisting capitalist order.Emmet StaggNoel Browne, Against the Tide, (Gill and Macmillan,Dublin, 1986), pp. 281, £9.95 paperbackLord Byron in his famous poem Don Juan declared'I want a hero, an uncommon want'. MyoId schoolmasterunkindly commented, 'No one wanted a heroless than Byron. He was his own hero'. So it is withNoel Browne. He will always hold an honoured placein the struggle for social change in Ireland and he haswritten a very remarkable and well written book. Inmany respects however, it is very bitter and unbalanced.Those parts of Against the Tide which relate theharrowing details of Brow ne 's family history when onetragedy of sickness closely followed another were verymoving. His account of the Mother and Child Scheme54