‘Germans want change,’ say Irish in Berlin ahead of crucial election

I’m walking the streets of Berlin ahead of the hotly contested German federal elections. Between election posters, brutalist architecture and landmarks of the city’s dark past, I see familiar signs – Murphy’s, Kilkenny’s, Irish Berlin, a shop selling Barry’s Tea.

There are around 5,000 Irish people in Berlin, not counting the random couch-surfers. Many fit the profile of left-leaning creative types who migrated for cheap rents and nightlife. I met some of them to talk about music, politics and rubbish.

“Everyone came here for the low rents, but demand raised prices and it’s harder to find somewhere. Being able to afford a one-bed is impossible,” said musician Rory Reilly (32), from Skibbereen, Co Cork. “I originally worked in film, but I’ve been working as a musician and copywriter and I host events.”

Mr Reilly, who plays the guitar, bouzouki and banjolele, has moved 33 times since he arrived in Berlin 11 years ago.

“I was in one place for five years, but it burnt down after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the apartment block,” he said.

I met Mr Reilly and his musician friends at an open-mic night in trendy Kreuzberg, where he performed impressively. Large beers cost just €3.90.

Rory Reilly, Berlin Photo: Barbara McCarthy

“We couldn’t do this in Dublin,” he said. A bunch of artists living in a city and drinking beer in a pub is a luxury back home.

Mr Reilly’s friend and fellow musician Conor Kilkelly (34), from Drogheda, Co Louth, who moved to Germany in 2015, said: “Germany has an amazing folk scene. People came from all around the world and brought incredible music with them. You only hear about techno and house, but there’s so much more.”

He pays €800 in rent a month with his girlfriend.

“I work as a full-time musician. It’s a dream,” he said.

I asked who they would vote for in the elections? The Christian Democrats (CDU), who lead the polls; the far-left Die Linke; or maybe the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)?

“We have Irish passports, so we’re not voting, but we don’t like any of them,” Mr Kilkelly said.

The group of four discussed rising costs – fuel, food, taxes.

“Berlin has changed in the last five years. Covid-19 gutted the music industry and saw many venues close for good,” Mr Reilly said. “There’s also been an increased level of over-regulation interfering in people’s daily lives.

“Berlin is meant to be bohemian and the rest of Germany is meant to be ­rigid, but we’ve seen another side of it.

“We know a group who were protesting for Palestine and now they’re on watch lists. It’s pretty dark.

Conor Kilkelly. Photo: Barbara McCarthy

“There’s no nuance here. They only do black and white, in politics and life. But the situations in Gaza and Ukraine are nuanced. Germans support Israel because of World War II. No one from the war is alive any more, it makes no sense.”

Computer scientist Colin Manning (63) first moved to Berlin in 1998.

We walked around the city, from the Reichstag, across to the Brandenburg Gate and over to Checkpoint Charlie.

“Berlin is bankrupt,” he said, blaming the devastating effects of Covid. “It cost so much money and people got used to being sheep. It’s quite ­eye-opening. They love rules – even young people – in work and life.”

We discussed how the current government, comprising the Green Party and the SPD (social democrats), has presided over deindustrialisation, over-regulation, crippling bureaucracy and open borders – inherited from former chancellor Angela Merkel.

We walked past bollards and I asked him what they were for.

Colin Manning, Photo: Barbara McCarthy

“So someone doesn’t drive into the crowd with a car, like what happened in Berlin in 2016 and more recently in Mun­ich and Magdeburg,” Mr Manning said.

Barbara McCarthy at the site of the Berlin Wall. Photo: Barbara McCarthy

“Germans want change. They want a more conservative government. I can’t believe the Greens still have 13pc of the vote. They destroyed the country.

“They make politics for minorities, paid for by the majority. The current government is also responsible for the popularity of the AfD right-wing party, who had 10pc of the vote when they were elected and have 20pc now.

“If the CDU, who are currently leading in the polls with 30pc, form a coal­ition with the Greens and the SPD, it will be a disaster. The CDU won’t be able to form a decent government without them. It will be interesting to watch it all fall apart.”

Mr Manning, who started Setanta GAA club in Berlin and had an online business selling Irish products, added: “I just keep out of it. I just look after myself and my family. That’s all you can do.”

We cross the road when the light is red. An act of rebellion. Being half German and militant about waiting for the light to turn green, it was a bit much.

“You get stopped when you cross the light by random strangers,” Mr Manning said. Luckily we got away with it.

Barbara McCarthy, Berlin