Róisín Ní Bradáin
Róisín Ní Bradáin | |
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| Born | 15 January 1920 |
| Died | 5 October 2020 (aged 100) |
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| Conservatism in Gylias |
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Róisín Ní Bradáin (Gylic transcription: Roşín Nibradan; 15 January 1920 – 5 October 2020) was an Ossorian–Gylian political philosopher, public intellectual, and activist. She pursued a distinctive course in centre-right politics, whose tenets included distributism, social corporatism, and liberal conservatism. She was described by The Morning Post as "an accidental contributor to the Gylian consensus".
Róisín sought to achieve a synthesis of conservatism, liberalism, and social democracy. She was opposed to both traditionalism and radicalism. She sought to "contain and control" the Golden Revolution by creating a "counter-balance" to the anarchists. She warned of the risks of the revolution "going too far" and causing backlash in an attempt to encourage restraint among the Gylian left.
During the wretched decade, Róisín saw the height of her influence. She opposed both the far-left and far-right, and sought to push Gylias' centre of political gravity towards the centre. Her advocacy of restraint caused bitter debates among the Gylian left, and a "Róisínist" faction emerged that argued for the Progressive Alliance to take a more moderate course. Her hopes that the 1990s would usher in a new political system dominated by the centre and the centre-right went unfulfilled, however she did live long enough to see the election of Gylias' first centre-right government.
Early life
Róisín Ní Bradáin was born in Díseart on 15 January 1920. She was a member of the Ó Bradáin family, the royal family of Firada; her branch was not in line for the throne.
She was educated at home and attended primary and secondary school in Firada.
Her political beliefs began to form in her youth, partly influenced by her family background. She was influenced by the romantic conservative critique of industrialisation, believing that industrialisation had destroyed a previous time in which people lived more in harmony with nature and were overseen by a benevolent, cultured elite.
Liberation War experience
When she was 18, her father was sent to the Daláyk islands as part of an Ossorian mission supporting the local constitutional monarchist faction during the Liberation War. Róisín accompanied him, and would live on the islands for the next several years.
Although the relocation prevented her from attending university in Ossoria, she continued her education through autodidacticism. She read extensively about politics and history.
Róisín mainly resided in Eltykan with her family, and accompanied her father during his regular visits to the Nerveiík Kingdom. She was a guest at her father's meetings with kingdom officials such as the Varnaþ family and Prime Minister Den Alieraş, often serving as a secretary. Den was impressed with Róisín, and once told her father, "If only we had more daughters like yours, then the kingdom would thrive!".
In turn, Róisín was fond of the Nerveiík Kingdom, seeing it as a moderate regime that could evolve in the image of Ossoria. She often expressed regret that it had not been victorious in the Liberation War.
She was horrified by the coup d'état of 31 December 1947, which destroyed the Nerveiík Kingdom and brought to power the Tymzar–Nalo regime. She was an impassioned opponent of the Tymzar–Nalo regime, calling it "the most evil regime that ever stained the world". Having undergone military training during her time in Eltykan, she decided to volunteer. She took a boat to the Gylian mainland and joined Lidia's Legion, mainly because it had incorporated the former Royal Guard.
She spent several years as a soldier in Lidia's Legion. During this time, she came to admire its commander Lidia Leone, calling her "a brilliant commander and an excellent, no-nonsense leader".
She left Lidia's Legion in 1956, shortly before its surrender. While the Legion was retreating from Laiýs, she boarded a ship and returned safely to Eltykan.
Róisín's wartime experiences fundamentally shaped her politics, cementing her lifetime opposition to radicalism whether left or right. She also gained a sympathetic view of Gylians, writing: "The Gylians have their good qualities, and with the right encouragement and guidance, they can be made into a most agreeable people."
Her parents similarly told biographers with amusement that Róisín "embarked on this self-proclaimed mission to be the 'shepherd' to this 'wayward flock'."
Activism
Róisín settled in Gylias with her family after the war. She would mainly live in Velouria and Riáona. After the Law on Common Nationality of 1962 was passed, she applied for and obtained Gylian citizenship.
She engaged in activism using a variety of methods. She was a very active public speaker on university campuses and in other forums, including radio and television panel shows. She wrote articles, columns, and essays for various publications, letters to the editor of various newspapers, and books and pamphlets that set out her worldview. She was usually published in conservative newspapers like The Sunday Thought, The Gylian Journal, and The National Inquirer, but also appeared in newspapers with different political stances, such as the centrist The Morning Post, the liberal conservative The Independent Reader, and the social democratic The Republic.
One biographer noted that while Róisín "had a very Ossorian suspicion of direct democracy", she embraced Gylias' methods of direct democracy as another way to advance her message. She faithfully took part in communal assemblies, considering it her duty as a Gylian citizen. Most importantly, she recognised the potential of referendums as a means to gain national attention. She proposed numerous popular initiatives during her lifetime, and took part in campaigns for various referendums. Although none of her initiatives ever succeeded, they helped raise her national profile.
During her career, Róisín was often compared to Beatrice Albini and Sasa Ruişela — public figures who enjoyed public respect despite their consistent inability to win at the ballot box. Róisín approved of the comparison and considered it an honour. She said she hoped that the average Gylian's opinion of her would be, "I don't agree with Róisín at all, but I want to hear what she says."
Ideas
Róisín's ideas have been variously described as syncretic, eclectic, eccentric, and contradictory. Keie Nanei described Róisín in Antichronos as "a woman skeptical of the past, present, and even the future".
Opposed to radicalism
The foundation of Róisín's ideas was an opposition to radicalism in all its forms, whether revolutionary or reactionary. She despised both capitalism and authoritarian socialism, considering them both authoritarian systems that caused alienation and "profound meaninglessness" in modern life. She voiced a romantic nostalgia for the pre-industrialised world, seeing it as calmer, more spiritually fulfilled, and more politically and economically diverse.
She was contemptuous of anarchism, as her own ideas were statist. For her, the state had an important role to play in organising society and protecting citizens' well-being. She doubted that anarchism could replace the functions of a welfare state or carry them out with the same efficiency and organisation.
Syncretism
She sought to achieve a synthesis of conservatism, liberalism, and social democracy. Her politics overall are considered centre-right. She was skeptical of direct democracy, and favoured cultivating a benevolent and cultured elite, similar to the noblesse oblige ideology of the Crown Nationalist Party.
She advocated several methods to create a new social and economic system: social corporatism and distributism for organising society, civic nationalism for maintaining unity, a kind of planned economy, and a degree of liberal conservatism and paternalistic conservatism in social issues. She believed in maintaining "the old ways that have proven beneficial and least oppressive", and felt that social change and progress needed to happen organically, over a longer period.
She believed that modern technology could be used in order to achieve efficient economic planning and thus restore the romantic traits she associated with agrarian societies, but her writings never clarified how this could be done.
Growing out of her skepticism of direct democracy, she advocated class collaboration and protecting social mobility at all costs. She called economic inequality "the greatest curse to befall a society, and the most fertile ground for revolutionary desperation". Her conclusion was that in order to protect itself against radical tumult, a society had to provide prosperity for all and to guarantee equal opportunity.
Moderation as a virtue
Róisín's main preoccupation was promoting moderation and restraint as virtues in themselves. Her experience in the Liberation War convinced her that "the overriding responsibility of the state is to promote toleration and peaceful coexistence in the body politic". She warned that "popular passions, once unleashed, are difficult to soothe, and can lead to the disgusting savageries we've seen during the civil war."
Accordingly, she was opposed to both traditionalism and radicalism. Since her sympathies lay mainly on the centre-right, she was disgusted by the "constructive"–"recalcitrant" battle that weakened Gylian conservatism for decades. She lamented: "The greatest burden conservatives have to carry is constantly having to strangle the lunatics who try to drag everyone on the right in their suicidal leap off the ledge of sanity." She believed the primary task of a centre-right party was to establish unquestioned mastery of the right, and prevent any further right formations from emerging that could drag politics into extremism.
Similarly, she warned of left extremism and triumphalism. Although the Free Territories had won the Liberation War, she believed the anarchists were a vocal minority, and most of the Gylian public just wanted security, safety, and comfort. She warned that if the Golden Revolution went "too far" it would cause a public backlash, and thus the left needed to practice self-restraint.
Marginalising the extremes
Róisín advocated using salami slicing tactics to "neutralise the extremes of both left and right" and ensure moderation would prevail. For instance, she wanted to "peel off" the Socialist Party and Social Democratic Party from the Progressive Alliance, as part of a long-term strategy to marginalise the far-left and "domesticate" the left. Her rhetoric and strategy harked back to Alscia's finance minister Letizia Silvestri, who had similarly sought to preserve liberals' supremacy against rising radical challengers.
Róisín sought to capitalise on various issues or public events, no matter how trivial, to trumpet her warnings about public backlash and promote self-restraint, particularly among the Gylian left. This was the main topic of her contributions to the social democratic The Republic, and even the Democratic Communist Party's official newspaper The New World. The reason her articles even appeared in the latter was due to her good relations with editor Marguerite Tailler, who was herself far more moderate and had similar ambitions to "tame" the Golden Revolution, and thus had sympathy for Róisín's similar stance.
Reputation
Róisín cultivated a distinctive public image that complemented her work. Her appearance was easily recognisable: she had short red hair and brown eyes, and always wore a masculine suit and tie. She enjoyed portraying herself as androgynous, such as joking that she was "the man of the family" in her private life.
Together with Saorlaith Ní Curnín, Róisín was considered Gylias' most influential Ossorian. Their public images were complete opposites: Saorlaith was elegant, refined, and sought to embody the virtues of noblesse oblige, while Róisín was arrogant, brash, and sharp-tongued.
Esua Nadel observed that, whether consciously or by accident, Róisín constructed her public image to be somewhat "wicked", comparing her to Remi Ďana. In her estimation, Róisín "was arrogant and insufferable in a way someone who thinks they know best is", but also had "charisma and personal magnetism", so that even her political opponents still respected her as an adversary and found some of her personal qualities admirable: "perseverance, undeniable intelligence, courage in the face of unpopularity".
Reception
Initial
Róisín's ideas initially received a cold reception. The public that took note of her treated her mainly as a novelty, not worth serious consideration. Some conservatives expressed sympathy, but still found her worldview incomprehensible. One of the only officeholders to support her was Riáona Mayor Peggy Carter. Róisín and Peggy developed a close friendship, and Róisín considered Peggy Gylias' greatest mayor; the relationship influenced her to move to Riáona.
Wretched decade
The wretched decade saw Róisín at the height of her influence. She was an impassioned opponent of the Aén Ďanez government, and saw it as the embodiment of far-left excess she had warned about. She was disappointed by the Gylian public's reluctance to vote for Lea Kersed's National Bloc until the 1985 federal election, expressing frustration that "some people don't understand the calamity is upon us, and prefer their own ideological purities to saving the country from disaster".
Following the Ossorian war crisis, she declared that "Gylias has grievously offended Ossoria", and controversially argued that it needed to go further in showing "contrition" and repairing relations, attracting criticism that she wanted to undermine Gylias' independence by having it "grovel" towards Ossoria.
Róisín saw the wretched decade as the best opportunity to attempt her strategy of marginalising the extremes. The Filomena Pinheiro government launched a crackdown on the far-left and far-right, the most extensive since the Lucian Purge. Róisín sought to use this to discredit the far-left and argue that Gylian politics needed to move towards the centre in order to recover. Although she was careful not to criticise the Golden Revolution directly, her arguments implied that it had committed "mistakes" that had allowed the Revolutionary Rally and Front for Renewal of Order and Society to fester and become threats to Gylian life.
Róisín found a receptive audience for her message. The Progressive Alliance, already suffering internal conflicts between "coalitionists" and "oppositionists", saw the emergence of a "Róisínist" faction that argued in favour of moderation and disavowing radicalism in order to regain the electorate's trust. Notable supporters included Édith Champion, Gianna Calderara, Anina Bergmann, Margot Schwarz, and other regional officeholders.
She attempted to further her reach by entering Filomena's inner circle, which Filomena rebuffed. Róisín tried to convince Filomena to appoint her as an aide, or to the cabinet as a minister without portfolio. Filomena refused both of these suggestions, and replied to the latter, "If you were good enough to become a cabinet minister, why didn't you do it in Ossoria?".
Later developments
Although the 1990s did bring a political realignment, it fell short of Róisín's hopes for a new political system dominated by the centre and centre-right. However, she did approve of Mathilde Vieira's image as a technocratic moderniser, Gianna Calderara's presidency, and her perception that within the PA, the SP and SDP had the upper hand over the far-left factions after the wretched decade. By the 2000s, she recognised that "the moment of opportunity" had passed, and her desired centrist realignment would not happen.
Róisín did live long enough to witness the formation of the Lena Haidynraix government after the 2020 federal election, the first centre-right federal government since independence. She sent Lena Haidynraix a letter of congratulation, praising her for achieving "what was cruelly denied to Lea Kersed 30 years ago".
Private life
Róisín married Fionn Ó Maolmhuire in 1947. The marriage lasted until his death, and they had three children. It was a happy and loving marriage. Fionn was a very private person and preferred to keep a low profile. When they were together in public, they were notably amorous, engaging in public displays of affection and referring to each other by pet names and terms of endearment.
Those who knew Róisín well were impressed by her charming and erudite character, sometimes at odds with her brash and "self-important" public image. Lea Kersed described her as "a gracious woman with a stylish wardrobe who could talk brilliantly and with much wit about a lot of things".
Death
Róisín began to show signs of mental decline as she aged. She celebrated her 100th birthday on 15 January 2020, and was a guest of honour at Saorlaith Ní Curnín's own 100th birthday the next month.
Róisín's health worsened as the year went on. She died of natural causes in Riáona on 5 October 2020.
Legacy
Róisín was described by The Morning Post as "an accidental contributor to the Gylian consensus". Despite the eccentricities of her politics, her vision contained many points of agreement with the consensus, including the importance of public wellbeing, decentralisation, civic nationalism, and opposition to capitalism and inequality.
The very eccentricities of Róisín's ideals helped her garner attention, and she expressed pride that she had been accepted as "an honourable, tenacious adversary" by revolutionaries. While her largest audience was among conservatives and centrists, her warnings of revolutionary excess and promotion of self-restraint did get a sympathetic hearing in some corners of the Gylian left, as evidenced by the "Róisínist" faction within the Progressive Alliance.
The journalist Ŋéida Vaşad dismissed Róisín as "a glorified windmill-tilter" and said that Saorlaith was the greater Ossorian because "Saorlaith understood Gylias … Róisín just deluded herself into thinking she could will a more Ossorian Gylias into existence."
Julie Legrand was more scathing in her dismissal, calling Róisín "some Ossorian screwball who ran off from her islands to make a living annoying Gylians".
More positively, Virginia Inman wrote that Róisín "seemed to have a lifelong fascination with testing the limits of things. She seemed to regard herself as a sort of guard of the Gylian consensus, probing how far it could go, and consistently trying to draw lines in the sand and telling the Golden Revolution 'this far and no further'. It was no surprise that she found more amenable ears for her calls for a retreat, although her prescriptions for some kind of a permanent centrist triangulation were too unworkable to ever happen."
Cultural commentator Hanako Fukui wrote that Róisín's public image contributed to Gylian perceptions of Ossorians, consolidating stereotypes of Ossorians as "arrogant, insufferable, over-confident, but charismatic and formidable adversaries who were not to be under-estimated".
Abroad, Róisín's writings influenced the Akashian politician Liana Ferrari, who similarly voiced a belief that Akashi was developing a "permanent centre-right majority" after the "blue wave" of 2006. These proved wrong, since the next election was the "red wave" of 2010.