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A critical analysis of the parliamentary discourse of the Fine Gael government on undocumented non-EU immigration in the era of Trump and Brexit
Date
2025-06
Abstract
During the late 2010s, right-wing populism swept across Europe and the US, marked by the election of Donald Trump, the Brexit vote, and the rise of figures like Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen. Leaders of the populist movement often employed unconventional and deeply controversial rhetoric, most notably against migrants and ethnic minorities. In this context, I investigated the representation of undocumented non-EU migrants in the parliamentary discourse of the Irish government through an in-depth analysis of 13 parliamentary texts delivered by Fine Gael leaders, Enda Kenny and Leo Varadkar, between 2016 and 2020. Adapting elements from the Dialectical-Relational Approach to CDA (Fairclough 1995), I examined discourse-level elements such as speech acts and intertextuality and analysed ideological and wider socio-cultural influences on the texts. The research demonstrates that analysing the discourse of political elites can significantly contribute to uncovering social and power dynamics impacting disadvantaged communities (Brandi 2007; Snowdon and Eklund Karlsson 2021). Empirically, the thesis presents a meticulous case study of the dynamics of othering processes achieved through language choices. The findings reveal persistent patterns of othering and negativisation in the late 2010s (Burroughs 2015a), particularly through pronouns use and lexical choices. The findings of the current thesis also extend previous research by elucidating the evolution of othering in Irish official discourse and how it leverages Ireland’s positioning within a broader European 'us' juxtaposed against undocumented migrants. Further, the thesis contributes to political literature on Irish policy responses to immigration as well as on Irish politics, and Fine Gael in particular, by demonstrating the party's firmly Pro EU ideology and solidifying its political/ideological classification as centre-right (Reidy 2009; Hutter and Malet 2019). The thesis advances theories on othering by identifying language choices, such as pronominal and lexical selections, as subtle mechanisms that reinforce social inequalities (Brons 2015). It extends existing theory by explaining the nature and mechanics of official discursive othering practices within the context of state membership in supranational organizations that regulate the boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. The findings also identify epistemic modality as a crucial element in recognizing political rhetoric and substantiate the importance of intertextuality in understanding power relations as manifested in language.
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Publisher
University of Limerick
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Sustainable Development Goals
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Type
Thesis
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/