Who is popular today?

“The target is still the target”. So the Taoiseach declared on Wednesday regarding vaccination of 82 per cent of the population against Covid-19 by June. It is a tall order, but then, it is just a target and targets have quite a habit of moving, being missed, or ignored altogether, as the following history of Ireland over the last century in the words of those who set, moved and missed targets, suggests.
1. “A Worker’s Republic or death” (Trade union leader, James Larkin, 1921).
2. “The IRA will remain the Army of the Irish Republic” (Richard Mulcahy, chief-of-staff of the IRA, 1922).
3. “From today, the two governments undertake to co-operate in every way in their power with a view to the restoration of peaceful conditions in the unsettled areas” (James Craig, prime minister of Northern Ireland, and Michael Collins, 1922).
4. “Securing the political independence of a united Ireland as a Republic” (The foundational aim of Fianna Fáil, 1926).
5. “The Restoration of the Irish language” (The second aim).
6. “The development of a social system in which . . . equal opportunity will be afforded to every Irish citizen to live a noble and useful Christian Life” (The third aim).
7. “The voluntary reunion of the Irish Nation as the paramount constitutional issue in Irish politics” (The primary mission of Fine Gael, as outlined by its first leader, Eoin O’Duffy, in 1933)
8. “A home of a people who valued material wealth only as a basis of right living, of a people who were satisfied with frugal comfort” (Eamon de Valera on the ideal Ireland, 1943).
9. “The final arbiters of right and wrong, even in political matters” (Bishop Cornelius Lucey on the role of the Catholic Hierarchy, 1955).
10. “No dances on Saturday nights, eves of holy days, Christmas night or during Lent” (Dr Thomas Morris, Catholic Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, 1960).
11. “Ulster has only room for one party” (Basil Brooke, Northern Ireland prime minister, 1961).
12. “Our task will be literally to transform Ulster” (Terence O’Neill, Northern Ireland prime minister, 1963).
13. “I’ll be back in the Springtime” (President John F Kennedy at the end of his Irish visit, 1963).
14. “To see a member of the British royal family coming to Ireland on a private visit, travelling freely around Ireland, without anyone paying special attention” (Taoiseach Seán Lemass on a mature Irish republicanism, 1965).
15. “To have him certified as a person insane” (Republican Labour MP Gerry Fitt on his aim for Ian Paisley, 1966).
16. “We shall not conceive” (Irish Women’s Liberation Movement, 1971).
17. “Internment has flushed out the gunmen” (Brian Faulkner, Northern Ireland prime minister, 1971).
18. “A declaration of intent to withdraw British forces from Irish soil by January 1st, 1975” (Demand made by IRA at meeting with British ministers, 1972).
19. “I will be dead in six days” (IRA leader Seán Mac Stiofáin, announcing hunger strike in 1972; it lasted 57 days. He didn’t die. ).
20. “Action plan for National Reconstruction” (Fianna Fáil election manifesto, 1977).
21. “All life, whether of citizens or of people of other nationalities, whether born or unborn, should be protected by our Constitution” (Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, 1982).
22. “Uno Duce, una voce” (P J Mara on Fianna Fáil under Charles Haughey,1984).
23. “They cannot go on saying ‘No’” (Tom King, Northern Ireland Secretary of State, on unionists, 1986).
24. “It is there, and things will never be the same again” (Monica Barnes TD on the women’s vote, after the election of Mary Robinson, 1990).
25. “We can no longer allow another state to deal with the social problems that arise in Ireland” (Proinsias de Rossa, Democratic Left leader, on Irish women travelling to England for abortions, 1992).
26. “The government must go about its work . . . as transparently as if it were working behind a pane of glass” (Taoiseach John Bruton, 1994).
27. “We are still prepared to enhance the democratic peace process” (IRA statement after Manchester bombing, 1996).
28. “Programme for Prosperity and Fairness” (Title of social partnership agreement, 2000).
29. “A 20-year strategy designed to enable every place in the country to reach its potential, no matter what its size or location” (National Spatial Strategy, 2002).
30. “A model for the millions of new citizens of the European union” (ECB president Jean Claude Trichet on Ireland, 2004).
31. “If a deficit emerges the sector will pay, not the Irish taxpayer” (Taoiseach Brian Cowen on the bank guarantee, 2008).
32. “Frankfurt’s way or the way the Labour party is proposing” (Labour leader Eamon Gilmore on the choice facing the electorate in 2011).
33. “Our Red Line is blood red” (DUP leader Arlene Foster, opposing a Brexit deal that would divide Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, 2018).
34. “To deliver high-speed broadband to all premises in Ireland” (National Broadband Plan, 2020).
35. “A 51 per cent reduction in emissions by the end of this decade” (Climate Bill, 2021).