My family has been in FF for almost 90 years – but I’ve finally had enough
A LONG-STANDING Fianna Fáil dynasty has ended its links with the party with the resignation of one of its youngest members, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Sarah Ryan, the daughter of former MEP Eoin Ryan and the great-granddaughter of party founding member James Ryan, wrote to Micheál Martin last month resigning her membership.
She has taken up a lucrative role in the private sector, as chief operating officer of One Big Switch utility bills company.
Her decision will come as a blow to a party that has no female TDs and just two female senators. Ms Ryan, one of several highprofile female candidates who were not elected in the summer’s local election, said she was ‘disappointed’ with some of the events that led to her ending her family’s near 90-year association with Fianna Fáil.
Like all political parties, Fianna Fáil will be legally obliged to run a candidate field comprising at least 30% women in the next general election.
Ms Ryan, 30, said she felt that Mr Martin supported her ahead of the May local elections, but she was surprised when another candidate joined her on the party ticket at the last minute. She noted that Mr Martin had yet to reply to her letter of resignation from the party. ‘I don’t expect to [receive a reply],’ she said yesterday. ‘I just feel disappointed – just with the scene.
‘I think that there are male candidates who feel they didn’t get support as well, but speaking personally, no, I feel like I was very badly treated by the party.
‘I don’t necessarily think that’s about being a woman, I think that is disappointing.’
She was approached by the One Big Switch, an Australian-based company that negotiates on behalf of large numbers of consumers for group deals on home loans and utility bills.
It is currently running a health insurance campaign and sought a person with political experience.
Ms Ryan’s personal background certainly includes that: her greatgrandfather, James Ryan was the medical officer who accompanied James Connolly’s troops into the GPO in 1916 and was a founder member of Fianna Fail in 1926.
He eventually became Finance Minister.
His son Eoin Ryan Snr was a Fianna Fáil senator for 30 years.
In more recent years, Eoin Ryan Jnr in turn became a Fianna Fáil TD, MEP and Minister, eventually retiring in 2009.
Many members of Ms Ryan’s family have sat on the party’s ruling body, the Ard Comhairle, but that tradition came to an end last month when she wrote to Mr Martin and ended an 88-year family tradition.
Ms Ryan was a Fianna Fáil councillor but was not elected in 2014. This weekend, she was ready to look forward.
‘Every cloud has a silver lining, I suppose,’ she said of her election disappointment. I’m not a member any more. Well, I resigned… I didn’t renew my membership and then I wrote a letter to Micheál Martin and resigned from the Ard Comhairle about a month ago.’
However, she does feel that in the wake of her departure, there are lessons for the party.
‘If you take myself as an example, claiming to run women, young professional women like myself and whoever, when it came down to it they were found wanting in an actual commitment in getting us elected,’ she said.