Socialism Stir in Ireland

Dublin- Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, announced a surprising revelation which let loose a political twist. In his declaration: "I am one of the few Socialists left in Irish politics,"said at an interview with the Irish Times.
The unexpected announcment, drew many of the Irish people's attention towards him, and were under the question of whether or not Mr.Aherns re-election was well thought out through or not. His declaration shocked his colleagues, and infuriated his opponents and his supporters.

Zismann Agence Presse

Could this lead to an economic and political clash with socialism in Ireland?

under colonial english rule, Ireland was one of the most repressed of colonies. The people were poor and starving. Also, socialism has long been a prevalent force in Irish politics, dating back a couple of hundred years. Is it any wonder that the poor take well to the socialist ideal? And since most of the world is poor, with a little education, socialist revolutionaries could soon be knocking down Qaddafi's, Assad's, and many others' doors.

'Socialist' and 'Socialism' are labels that go down very well in a lot of Ireland so it's no real surprise to see Bertie ladeling it all over hisself as much as possible in this way.

However forget the labels and look at the actuality.

The Republic of Ireland is not a socialist economy and the Republic of Ireland's government is not a socialist government and Bertie Ahern is not (according to his policies) a socialist Prime Minister no matter what 'window dressing' he applies to himself.

Europe is a country of 'social democrat' governments.

There is not a genuinely 'socailist' government amongst us.....

.....unless you are using the term 'socialist' to mean something that the term does not actually mean; as per.