Martin warned FF needs revamp to def ine its core values for voters
As Fianna Fáil prepares for its 80th Ard Fheis, questions abound over its electoral future and what the once broad movement now actually stands for
TAOISEACH Micheál Martin has been warned by his own party that it needs a total revamp if it is to be relevant to the 21st Century.
The damning commentary was made by Fianna Fáil TD James Lawless, who has written a key ‘Aims and Objectives’ document on the future of the party.
It comes as party backbencher Jim O’Callaghan said yesterday that Mr Martin is coming to the end of his tenure as party leader.
Mr Lawless’s ‘Aims and Objectives’ document, which was commissioned by Mr Martin, was compiled in response to growing restlessness within the party. However, its conclusions are poised to generate even more turbulence ahead of a critical Ard Fheis.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday, Mr Lawless said the party has ‘an opportunity to refocus for the modern era and modernise its language’.
He said: ‘Fianna Fáil needs to modernise. We need to speak a
‘Like the Catholic Church before it disappeared’
language and communicate in a way people understand.’
He also reiterated the concerns in a previous report by Junior Minister Seán Fleming, which said voters did not know what Fianna Fáil stood for.
‘The report attempts to deal with the issue in the Fleming report that people do not know what Fianna Fáil’s core values are,’ said Mr Lawless.
The Kildare North TD has already caused unease in the hierarchy with his call for a UK New Labourstyle vision. Even more controversially, Mr Lawless has called for Fianna Fáil to follow the political positioning of Leo Varadkar.
‘We are a left-of-centre party but we should support the principle of universal access. We should also value aspiration, the person getting up early to go to work in the morning. Those are our voters,’ he said.
The document will be voted on in the context of a darkening mood, described by one TD who said the party was ‘sleepwalking towards a political graveyard’.
Concerns are growing over the unprecedented possibility of empty seats for the Taoiseach’s speech at the 80th Ard Fheis.
Some TDs have suggested that the Mr Martin’s main address should set out a timescale for his departure.
Jim O’Callaghan, who is tipped to challenge for the leadership, said at the Night and Day festival at Clonalis House in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, , he thought Mr Martin’s tenure was coming to an end.
In a public interview hosted by the Irish Mail On Sunday and the Irish Daily Mail, Mr O’Callaghan said he turned down an offer of a junior ministry from Mr Martin as he thought it was a ‘minimal’ role and he would be better off as a backbencher.
He also said the infamous meeting of disgruntled Fianna Fáil backbenchers this summer was a good idea and should happen again.
The party has reacted angrily to claims it is struggling to get enough delegates to fill the Ard Fheis. But some members are hoping the turnout will hit a record low.
One TD said: ‘The cancer is spreading. It is even affecting the rank and file. They’ve just walked away in rural Ireland. They do not engage.’
Another source warned: ‘The current numbers planning to attend may be even lower than the hierarchy claim. I understand it’s around the 460 mark. There isn’t even a curiosity factor to see the leader’s first Ard Fheis as Taoiseach.’
Another party figure said: ‘It is a case of death by a thousand cuts now. The Ard Fheis will be another sad tale. The hierarchy are fulltime on the phones sending out invitations. There is a bit of a sense of desperation.’
Rebel and former TD Marc MacSharry confirmed he will attend: ‘Of course I will be there
as an ordinary member. I have lost the Whip, but I will be attending, and like any ordinary member I will have questions I would like to be responded to.’
Commenting on the ongoing state of the party, TD John McGuinness said: ‘We have become the spokesmen for official Ireland. Fianna Fáil are becoming like the Catholic Church just before it disappeared.
‘The civil servants are in control. They pick and run the Cabinet, not the Taoiseach, and they make sure they get what they want.’
Another TD noted of this month’s think-in in Mullingar that the room filled up only for Kilkenny manager Brian Cody’s guest speech.
‘Prior to that there were about 20 in the room for the various presentations,’ the TD said.
Another source warned of the uncertain status of Mr Martin: ‘Little meetings have started. Big Jim [O’Callaghan] is on the prowl again meeting TDs and senators. Micheál will get his Budget and he will get his Ard Fheis. Anything after that is in the lap of the gods.’