Sunday, June 11, 2006
Fianna Fail eyeing Northern Ireland…
Here’s a thing. Former SDLP Mayor of Belfast Martin Morgan and an ex vice chair Eddie Espie are talking to the Dún Laoghaire Fianna Fáil tomorrow night as part of a discussion of the party’s future role in Northern Ireland. There was some considerable speculation on the possibility of Fianna Fail moving north, just prior to a better than expected SDLP performance in the last Westminster election. It’s thought that there are up to about 100 private members already in Northern Ireland. Is this just a toe in the waters? Or is the party considering establishing a 32 county presence? And, indeed, are Martin and Eddie to be the first Northern Irish FF converts?
Mick Fealty @ 09:30 PM
I hope that if FF come North they are more careful with the press releases, as language is so important:
“A close fiend and advisor to Denis Haughey”
They dont call it Pedantic O’Toole for nothing
Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 10:54 PMMick,
I’d imagine that the “nationalist/republican” potential constituency in N.I. haven’t a clue about what Fianna Fail stands for so I’d be very surprised if they tried that. more likely would be some sort of pact (initailly, at least) with SDLP.
How did you do those fadas?Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 10:54 PMI can’t see FF organising in N.I., especially under the ultra-causcious Bertie Ahern. With the general election in this country under a year away, the effort required to organise in N.I. would be a huge drag on resources and for little or no gain.
AS for any sort of pact, I cannot see this benefitting the SDLP. The party has tried to keep an equi-distant stance from all the parties here, so that they can influence government policy, no matter who is in power. Any deal with FF (or FG or Labour) would put that relationship at risk.
Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 11:05 PMjoeCanuck
‘Alt Gr’ and the relevant vowel together
á, é etc.. with ‘shift’ for capitals Á, É etc
Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 11:14 PMIf I was an SDLP nationalist I could really see how all of this would make a lot of sense and would be the next stage in achieving their All Ireland aspirations.
However it would introduce massive midlothian type questions on both sides of the Border which would only emphasise partition.
However no such problems would arise for unionism if the UUP had chosen the Tories rather than the PUP.
Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 11:20 PMPete
Can’t do that. What is “GR”?
Are N.A. keyboards different?Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 11:27 PMYou don’t have an ‘Alt Gr’ key, joe? To the immediate right of the space bar?
Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 11:33 PMOf course John the Tories would never agree to a deal with the UUP so Tory inclined members of UUP will have to join the Tories and leave UUP and PUP to it!
Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 11:35 PMjoeCanuck: I find copying and pasting works if you can see it online.
And as for your earlier point, does anyone else have a clue just what Fianna Fáil stands for?
Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 11:35 PMNope Pete;
immediate right is just “Alt”. same as immediate left.
Thanks for the tip Tim.Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 11:44 PMBah! ;)
The cut and paste should work as long as you can find it.
Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 @ 11:52 PMThe sooner this happens the better. Fianna Fáil have a lot more to offer Nationalist politics in the 6 counties than the SDLP do. The problem is of course that there would be a substantial number of current SDLP members who would vote Labour if they lived in the south and even the odd one like Currie who’d back FG.
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 12:24 AM“Fianna Fáil have a lot more to offer Nationalist politics in the 6 counties”
Hahahahaha and all that. Fianna Fail are gombeens. They have nothing to offer but mediocrity. FF are what results from a stifled, corrupt and fearful country. What good they have done in terms of housing and a few other benefits for ‘de peeple’ is heavily outweighed by the damage and brutality they have practised and still practise. They represent a status quo that has flourished in a time of paralysis and show what happens when lack of imagination triumphs over opportunity. They are in no way equal to what we are capable of as a nation.
They have more to gain from people talking about them making a move north than from actually doing it. They would be slaughtered in the north for having the temerity to arrive looking for votes after having abandoned the people for many decades.
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 12:40 AMI never really had Eddie down as reliable political witness # 1, but i have not heard tell of any homophomic statemets. Surely Daily Ireland’s would have reported such comments on page 1? They does with anthing else Eddie the Eagle has to say.
Mark - any links to said comments?
as for Marty - God love him.
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 12:47 AMHomophobic comments? This sounds like a blatant attempt by certain SDLP elements to blacken Eddie’s name; the SDLP has gone to absolute ruin and I dont blame Espie for talking to FF from what Ive read in the Daily Ireland about the SDLP.
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 12:55 AMInteresting move by Eddie Espie and Martin Morgan, can’t see Durken & Co being happy with this development.
You’d have to wonder who else in the party is involved in this.
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 01:05 AMI always thought FF would come North it was only a matter of time. Labour is already here and FG are gaining influence. Eddie Espie an Martin Morgan always sat uncomfortably within the SDLP. interesting developments. One to watch. Wonder if they will join FF. Over to you Mick!.
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 01:21 AMFF have much less potential for winning Protestant Unionist votes than the SDLP, which should be the main thrust of any Nationalist party on this island.
The existance of N Ireland will always hold the whole island back from fulfilling its full potential in the long term.
Unification should be the central objective of all Nationalist parties and that requires persuading Unionists of the benefits of building a new nation on this island.
Unionists might not want to vote for the SDLP, but, at least at this stage, many would not deny the party’s integrity.
I suspect that FF have too much historical baggage to be attractive to Unionists.
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 07:23 AMjoecanuck et al - if you’re typing in word, you should also be able to press ctrl + ’ then e (or a or whatever)
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 08:42 AMStoop watch:
Those comments did not emanate from within the SDLP. They have been removed for blatant man playing, not to mention ‘unparliamentary’ language.
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 08:58 AMIn a malign frame of mind so I would actually welcome this. A dose of Southern reality rather than Southern fantasy. FF the party with members who like land deals, FF the party of village pump politics, FF the party of dear old Charlie Haughey.
All states have pros and cons one of the greatest on the negative side in Ireland is FF and the ethos it stands for. Please Please Please organise here. (lots of houses needed).
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 09:00 AMFianna Fáil is organized in Northern Ireland, as is Independent Fianna Fáil. They are not organized in the little Teddy’s Head of the Six Counties. Given a mauling might be in store at the next elections, they are probably not going to expend much energy there unless it can help unsaddle Sinn Féin which seems unlikely.
I just thought the NI correction had to be put in. Amazing how successful the campaign to call the North Northern Ireland and the 26 cos Ireland has been. And the UK is internationally accepted even though one half of that U+K is a small wee spot run by small wee bigots who dress up to commemorate battles they know nothing about.Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 09:40 AMIs this the beginning of the end of the SDLP?
I think the SDLP has a stark choice; go with their ideological soul-mates labour, go with the votes and the money to Fianna Fáil or be squeezed out by the two of them. Fine Gael is not really much of an option, although there would be a few who will argue such.
I was under the impression that the labour forum is looking at an “NUS-USI” type arrangement with joint membership of Labour(.ie) and labour (.co.uk).
Given that labour (NI-Forum) is trying to gain support from both communities, there will be many in the SDLP who won’t move in that direction.
So where does that leave the social democratic and labour party? In bed with the centre right and losing their claims to being either a “labour” or a “social democratic” party.
While this is about more than red vs green, could the answer lie in how far towards the left they can push FF or how far to the south they can pull the labour forum?Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 09:49 AMSurely, people in the 6 counties have enough problems without having Fianna Fáil foisted upon them!
Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 10:16 AMJust re-read my post.
“Given that labour (NI-Forum) is trying to gain support from both communities, there will be many in the SDLP who won’t move in that direction. “This looks like I might be implying that some people in the party are sectarian. What I meant was that many will not wish to join a party that is not overtly in favour of Irish unification.
I wonder though, if the (hypothetical) new NI labour party were able to take the centre (alliance), keep hold of the left wing “soft” nationalists and recruit the left wing soft unionists, how much of a mandate would that equate to?Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 @ 10:36 AM
