A Mayo View: Ireland gets time to abandon over-reliance on US

Canadian approach might inspire our leaders to grow a backbone

by Caoimhín Rowland

Following the recent financial news from the United States, these days would leave one feeling glum, helpless and with that all-too-familiar sense of impending wrath that tends to ripple across this island when major economies dip into freefall.

The dreaded ‘R’ word came back into fashion, tossed around with ease.

But it was the looming threat of a full-blown depression that casts the darkest shadow.

At times it felt hard to see any light at the end of the Trump tunnel, despite his spectacular U-turn in announcing a three-month pause on tariffs.

Here in Ireland, preparations got underway over fears he was set to target Ireland’s coveted pharmaceutical sector.

The industry looked likely to be the next in his crosshairs.

Interestingly, one of Tucker Carlson’s final broadcasts on Fox News before his departure featured a segment on Botox, the aesthetic go-to that’s drawn increasing scrutiny amidst rising popularity.

American journalists have dubbed the cosmetic look sported by many of Trump’s female staffers the ‘Mar-a-Lago face’, arguing that their expressions are more invested in AbbVie (formerly Allergan) than most of its shareholders.

Carlson lamented that so many "liberal anchors on MSNBC have pumped themselves full of the product," only for it to be manufactured thousands of kilometres away in of all places Westport. A rare mention of Mayo on American cable news, though not one to write home about.

In these uncertain times, we find ourselves looking further north than usual for a glimmer of hope.

Mark Carney, with ancestral roots in Aughagower, is positioning himself as Canada’s next prime minister.

With Justin Trudeau stepping aside, Carney has emerged as the frontrunner to lead the Liberal Party.

It’s a daunting task at a time when Trump called Carney’s predecessor ‘Governor Trudeau’ and daily joked about making Canada the 51st State, but then again Carney made his name doing tough jobs well.

Once described as a rock star of central banking, Carney rose to prominence as head of Canada’s central bank.

He was widely credited with steering the country out of recession during the 2008 crisis, earning praise for spotting the subprime mortgage threat early and moving swiftly to protect the economy.

His success saw him head-hunted by the Bank of England, becoming the inaugural non-British-born governor and handed the unenviable job of navigating Brexit’s economic chaos.

Of course, he's been a lightning rod ever since.

Liz Truss has publicly blamed Carney for undermining her disastrous economic plans, and is now burnishing her reputation by courting the right-wing CPAC crowd in the US.

She recently took aim at Carney again, accusing him of sabotaging her economic vision, never mind that it imploded on its own.

One key flashpoint in Carney’s Canadian campaign is energy policy.

The Liberals, under Trudeau, have been hammered by rural voters over carbon taxes and green mandates.

Carney, a native of the rural north, born in the isolated town of Fort Smith on the northern border with Alberta, would have ties to the oil and gas sector. Little else keeps the lights on in the North West Territories.

He’ll have to work hard to balance environmental policy with economic realism, a tightrope walk that could define his leadership and determine his success at the ballot box.

Canada’s federal election, covering 343 seats in the House of Commons, operates much like the UK’s system.

Curiously, Carney isn’t running in his rural district but instead in Nepean, a safe Liberal seat in suburban Ottawa. The party notes Carney raised his family there and devoted much of his career to public service in the capital.

And as to his chief opponent?

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is a 45-year-old career politician with a populist streak.

Once the party’s attack dog, Poilievre has become its standard bearer, pushing a ‘Canada First’ message.

He rails against mainstream media and promises to defund the public broadcaster.

Until recently, his party was heading for a landslide until Trump’s almost-daily threats of trade wars and annexation spooked voters and shifted the mood toward the devil you know.

Remarkably, Carney’s campaign has embraced a form of left-wing nationalism, something rarely seen outside the SNP in its prime before the Scottish nationalists ultimate downfall.

By wrapping himself in the Canadian flag, Carney has tapped into a cultural pride not unlike what Sinn Féin’s would like to see as similar to their brand of cultural nationalism.

But across much of the Western world, nationalist sentiment has been hijacked by the far right, reduced to anti-immigrant sloganeering, something Sinn Féin have struggled with of late.

Canada votes on Monday next, April 28.

If Carney wins, expect a flicker of attention on Mayo and Aughagower.

Questions over state visits may arise, and it would mark an extraordinary arc for a former central banker, one now willing to stare down Donald Trump, who continues to bluster about annexation and belittle his northern neighbour.

His success might just inspire Irish leaders to grow a backbone of their own, to forge stronger ties with Canada, and to finally abandon our over-reliance on a United States that appears increasingly hostile to both Ireland and the EU.