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Late on Tuesday night, around 10 TDs from Fianna Fáil, mostly elected to the Dáil for the first time last February, gathered in a corner of the Leinster House canteen.
Dublin TDs Paul McAuliffe and Cormac Devlin were there. So were James O’Connor from Cork East, Cathal Crowe from Clare and Joe Flaherty from Longford-Westmeath.
Galway East Deputy Minister Anne Rabbitte, one who had hopes of occupying a higher position when the government was finally formed, joined the group.
It had been a bad day for the government and a sad day for Fianna Fáil. The launch of the Covid-19 medium-term plan had severely regressed with repeated “Level 2.5” taunts throughout the day.
This was followed by Stephen Donnelly’s Covid-19 scare that closed the Dáil for a few hours. Later, Taoiseach Micheál Martin had had an irritable interview on RTÉ’s Six-One News.
If that wasn’t enough, Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív had publicly called for Micheál Martin to be replaced, sparked by yet another terrible opinion poll for the party.
The conversation in the canteen that followed was informal. Inevitably, however, he focused on the events of the day and the blows received by the Taoiseach and Stephen Donnelly.
Some of those present were loyal to Martin. Others are not fanatics. Quickly, the conversation turned to the blanket of negativity surrounding Fianna Fáil, and why it is Fianna Fáil rather than Fine Gael who bears the blame for every government mishap.
Some members of the group complained that the public opinion of Fianna Fáil’s back benches comes from a small handful of vocal critics, such as Ó Cuív, Marc MacSharry and John McGuinness.
“There was a lot of annoyance that we allowed a small group of people to give the impression that we were all unhappy,” said a TD. Several at the canteen meeting gave notice that they would speak at the Parliamentary Party meeting on Wednesday. What did you do.
Negativity
There, Christopher O’Sullivan of Cork South West said the negativity was “disgusting”, while McAuliffe said the snipers had to stop. Cathal Crowe said some TDs are using the weekly meeting to “settle scores.”
Also joining were some who were not present at the cantina conversation, including Senators Lisa Chambers, Fiona O’Loughlin and Ned O’Sullivan and Kildare TD James Lawless.
After weeks of relentless leaks that affected party morale, this was seen as a backlash. However, it was more complex than Martin loyalists to return service.
In reality, criticism of Martin, and especially of his leadership style, is widespread within the Parliamentary Party and other ranks of the Fianna Fáil, and the new TDs in particular feel ignored.
Most, however, do not want Martin’s removal. Mistakes like Golfgate, or the two ministerial resignations, are not his fault, said one: “It’s a bit like Lemony Snicket, hit by a series of unfortunate events.”
Many were very unhappy with Ó Cuív’s intervention. “Micheál has only been on the job for 10 weeks, you have to give him a chance,” said another TD. “Éamon’s weather was terrible.”
Ó Cuív responded to his detractors in a tweet: “When would be the right time? We are at 10 percent nationally, 4 percent in Dublin. Should we wait until we’re closer to zero? “
There is no doubt that Micheál will lead the game for now, but that does not mean that he is doing a good job.
The truth is that a minority agrees with Ó Cuív and finds more than a grain of truth in Marc MacSharry’s pronouncements from the always theatrical Sligo-Leitrim.
Says one of the game’s youngest first-time TDs. “Some of my colleagues think it is the media and the opposition, not us. They are delusional. We have become irrelevant.
“What O Cuív did was silly. It was the wrong fucking time. There is no doubt that Micheál will lead the game for now, but that does not mean that he is doing a good job.
Disconnected
One of the main criticisms is that Martin is disconnected from his own MPs, says a TD from Leinster who “almost kicked the TV” when he heard Martin’s RTÉ Six-One statement that he had visited all the constituencies.
Has made decisions unilaterally without reference to others
“He’s been here three times and to be fair he’s very good at composing and pressing the meat. But as soon as he’s done, he gets in the car and drives off. You never relate to him, ”he says.
More than a few complain that Martin gets “cranky” when faced with criticism: “When he became leader,” says one, “there were only 20 TDs and he wasn’t full of talent. So he took responsibility for himself. “
That served him well until 2016, but he should have delegated later, but did not: “He has made decisions unilaterally without reference to others. Some have worked, like the Eighth Amendment. Others have not, such as his decision to extend trust and supply, and his decision not to deal with Sinn Féin and form a coalition with Fine Gael. That has alienated so many ordinary members.
“Fine Gael and Sinn Féin have leadership teams. Leo has Simon Coveney, Simon Harris, Heather Humphreys, and Helen McEntee. Mary Lou McDonald has Pearse Doherty, Eoin Ó Broin and Louise O’Reilly. With Micheál, you don’t have the same feeling that she has a team around her. “
United ireland
Also, many argue that Martin has failed to establish a clear vision for the party. Some were taken aback, even dismayed, by his interview with Pat Leahy for the Irish Times’ “Shared Island” series, where it became clear that a united Ireland is far down on his priority list.
“If Fianna Fáil does not represent a united Ireland, what is the point of us being a Republican party?” a desperate senior colleague complained.
Dublin Bay South TD Jim O’Callaghan is seen, for now, as Martin’s strongest leadership rival. This week, he was careful not to criticize the Taoiseach, but he also praised Ó Cuív’s insight.
Significantly, he confirmed that he’s holding Zoom meetings with FF cumainn, a modern take on Charlie Haughey’s chicken dinner circuit when he built his base at the party.
The threat to our identity is that for too long we did not say what Fianna Fáil means
O’Callaghan simply said that it was not the right time for a change. Speaking to The Irish Times, however, he focused on the identity of the party, an innate criticism in itself.
“The threat to our identity is that for too long we didn’t say what Fianna Fáil stands for,” says O’Callaghan.
“The party was like an elephant. It was hard to describe, but when I saw it I knew what it was. That no longer works. “
It continues with an argument that goes against the dispensation of Martin in the north. Fianna Fáil, she says, should be a “center-left and center-left national party that wants to reunify the country, build public housing, reward businesses, protect the vulnerable, protect Irish culture and language and save the environment. ”.
He continues: “The reasons why we were founded at La Scala [theatre] in 1926 they are still in force today.
“The desire and need for reunification are stronger due to the impact of Brexit and Covid. People see the illogic of the partition, which was a sectarian solution to a political problem and we, as a party, have the best record in dealing with that issue.
For others like Ó Cuív, Martin has abandoned another precept of Fianna Fáil, the Irish language, by relegating it to a lesser folder, with a minister of state who is not a competent speaker.
“The leader has a great influence on the party’s leadership,” says Ó Cuív. “He is like a soccer coach. When the team plays inconsistently, it is widely accepted practice that the coach has to go. “
Unhappy with the loose talk with the media, Cork East’s James O’Connor, Fianna Fáil’s youngest TD, similarly believes that younger TDs should be given head, with conflicting roles for them.
‘Youngest voter’
Echoing that theme, Christopher O’Sullivan of Cork South West says that FF is struggling to reach younger voters: “The parliamentary party is overwhelmingly male, not enough women or younger people.
“Give us the opportunity to reach out to younger voters and encourage female participation. If we constantly have old-school negatives, that will inhibit renewal, ”he says.
Recognizing that disputes “will always have airtime,” James Lawless says FF has communications and policy issues to resolve. However, above all, “you must get together and go out into the field.”
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