How Fianna Fail lost its way on judges and risks losing the people on bins and schools

The priorities of ordinary folk are being ignored as FG is hostage to Shane Ross and FF is trapped in no-man’s land, says Kevin Doyle

GOING into last year’s general election, Fianna Fail rediscovered what Enda Kenny would call its “mojo”.

Written off by many, Micheal Martin managed to spearhead a remarkable result that could well have ended with him becoming Taoiseach.

There was no great secret behind the party of boom and bust’s resurgence. Martin and those around him spotted a gap in the political market for a bit of caring and sharing.

Its manifesto was entitled ‘An Ireland for All’ and, in his foreword, the party leader said the country had a “profound sense of drift” under Fine Gael and the Labour Party.

Martin argued the outgoing coalition was “setting ourselves at odds with our best traditions of fairness, [and] threatens to make us more unequal and divided”.

Whereas Fianna Fail was committed to finding a better way “where economic growth is felt across the nation, families can own their own home, streets are safe, hard work is rewarded and society takes care of its young, vulnerable and older people”.

The fact Kenny was running around the country boasting of an economic recovery and the need to “keep it going” played into Martin’s hand.

But almost 18 months later, Fianna Fail has lost its way again.

Focusing on issues that affected ordinary people’s lives worked during the election campaign but Martin now finds himself constantly looking for reasons to start a faux war with Fine Gael — at the expense of a long-term strategy.

Nobody is comfortable with the ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement, even though it was the responsible decision at the time.

Over the past fortnight, Fine Gael has found itself hostage to Shane Ross, while Fianna Fail has been trapped in no-man’s land.

Martin knows he must pick the perfect moment to bring the charade to an end — but it’s fast becoming clear that there is no such thing as a perfect moment.

As a result, they have walked to the top of the hill four times now only to toddle back down again.

The party’s environment spokesman, Barry Cowen, went to battle with Simon Coveney over water and housing. It was effectively a mud wrestle that did neither of them any good.

And, more recently, justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan has managed to get himself into knots over whether the party has confidence in Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan.

Also more recently came the row over the appointment of the ex-attorney general Maire Whelan to the Court of Appeal, which saw Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stare down the Opposition and win.

Over the past week, the party, and, to be fair, the Dail, have been convulsed with the issue of judicial appointments, with O’Callaghan leading the Fianna Fail charge.

Of course the Dublin Bay South TD has some skin in the game even though he says there is no conflict of interest.

As a practising barrister he spends a significant amount of the working week in the Law Library and standing in front of judges.

What seems lost on Fianna Fail is that the men and women they so successfully spoke to during that election campaign have never met a judge and never want to.

They may or may not agree with Shane Ross’s crusade but they sure as hell aren’t talking about it in the pubs of rural Ireland.

‘Real’ people are upset because they don’t really know what the changes to bin charges mean for their pockets. They are curious about Richard Bruton’s plan to end the “baptism barrier” for Catholic schools but not Protestant ones.

Families are talking about how the system could separate an elderly couple in their latter years only to instantly reunite them after Joe Duffy got involved.

Whether by accident or design, Fianna Fail’s education spokesperson, Thomas Byrne, stumbled on the reality during his 19-minute Dail contribution on judicial reform. “It is new politics, where every priority of the ordinary citizens of this country is put to one side. Housing is out the door, the health service is out the door and legislation on the most significant political issue, namely water, is delayed again... Instead, one minister, Deputy Shane Ross, with a bee in his bonnet over many years about the judiciary, decides it and the Government and Sinn Fein agree to facilitate his whim,” he said.

Byrne had a big win this week. As the School Admissions Bill worked its way through committee stage, he forced Bruton to commit to additional special classes but it went largely unnoticed in the din of judicial outrage.

Martin should have been on the Leinster House plinth announcing an actual victory for “new politics” but instead he was lining up backbenchers to filibuster on the Judicial Appointments Bill.

Meanwhile, Mary Lou McDonald, who stands in for Gerry Adams these days, was showing that she was feeling the pulse of the nation.

She spent last Wednesday in the Dail raising the “latest debacle surrounding bin charges”, adding: “I notice this morning there has not been a peep on this topic from the soldiers of destiny.”

McDonald was eating Martin’s lunch with a dollop of Ballymaloe relish on the side. And unless Fianna Fail goes back to its election message, Sinn Fein will start eating its votes as well.

Judicial appointments are important but have little to do with creating a society that takes care of its young, vulnerable and older people.

‘Real people are upset because they don’t know what the changes to bin charges mean for them’