Dubai: After getting his country safely through the global financial crisis and back into the green, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s decision to call an early election has been testing the political alliances of Irish expats across Dubai.
The Irish Village was buzzing with speculation: On 26 February, who will be the party to step into the Dáil (parliament) in Dublin and help the Celtic Tiger rise again?
Secondary schoolteacher Julie O’Connell is well informed about her homeland’s current political situation but is equally scathing about both parties.
“It’s difficult to say who I would prefer as neither party has achieved major changes whilst they were in power,” she said. “Fine Gael have made no significant process, and Fianna Fail got us into this mess in the first place. How do you reconcile that?”
Despite her concerns for the state of the Irish economy, taxes do not play a large part in her opinion of the present government.
“Personally, they’re aren’t such a big problem for me,” she said. “The whole reason I moved to Dubai was because the job opportunities for my profession in rural Ireland were so scarce.”
Despite this, O’Connell is disappointed by the Taoiseach’s (Prime Minister’s) track record and Kenny’s increasingly close relationship with the European Union.
“I don’t think Kenny has done much good,” she said. “The whole party has been so scared of upsetting Germany and France, so much so that Kenny has turned into Europe’s little crony and has forgotten his Irish roots.”
Guinness in hand, network specialist Jim White is dubious whether changes in the Irish government will provide a better future for his young family.
“There’s no candidate on offer that I really feel will make the changes I want to see,” he said. “Fianna Fail have really tested the Irish public. It will take them a long time to gain the people’s trust again. I think Kenny has only done an above average job. I’m mainly concerned with the country fixing sovereign debt and improving health care. These changes will dictate when we will go home [to Ireland].”
White is also concerned that the rebounding Irish economy may stumble because so many expats might be tempted to return home.
“The government should look at introducing a tax break as an incentive to return home,” he said. “The process is incredibly expensive — we’d have to find a new house, move all of our possessions … the list goes on.”
“That said, I think that Ireland would also attract back more expats if they recognised the number of people now in mixed nationality marriages. My wife is Polish and it would take such a long time for her to become a citizen. The government should speed up the process. Oh … and improve the weather a bit.”
Eilish O’Connor has lived in Dubai for nine years and works at the Irish Village. She was on the fence about the election candidates.
“To be honest, I don’t have a preference who wins — it’s either a rock or a hard place,” she said.
Intending to return to Ireland in retirement, O’Connor feared that without the next government lowering taxes, she would not be able to afford to be comfortable.
“Eventually, I would love to go back to my hometown of Skerries and live there but it’s just not financially possible,” she said. “After having lived here for so long, I wouldn’t be entitled to a pension, no assistance, no nothing. And there are thousands like me.”
With the landmark establishment mostly staffed by Irish expats, O’Connor was concerned that their voices would not be heard from Dubai.
“Despite the fact that so many of us got up and left, Irish citizens abroad don’t get to vote,” she said. “We have even contacted the embassy but were told that there’s nothing they can do. When we return, we will have to re-register to vote. Whichever party gets in should fix that quick smart.”
— The writer is an intern at Gulf News
