Fianna Fail
#EUREF: Sentiment swings towards a Yes vote (whilst FF and SF consolidate)…
Tweet The only extraordinary thing about yesterday’s Red C poll results for the SBP, was the clear swing towards Yes, by six per cent age points. That’s probably reflective of a poor campaign thus far, and the degree of uncertainty thrown up by the chaos in Greece… And, as Stephen Collins noted on Saturday: …far [...] more »
Fine Gael need to get themselves a good public sector legacy on reform..
Tweet I’ve heard two angles on the issue of the over neglected issue of political reform… One, Brendan Keenan on Marian Finucane this morning suggested that since Fine Gael shows little appetite for anything other than rescuing the country from economic doom, Fianna Fail might use a rejuvenated reform agenda as a powerful ticket back [...] more »
‘Dropping Bertie’ also denudes Fianna Fail of the very best of its recent history…
Tweet Even if Bertie Ahern’s resignation offers Micheal Martin a useful tribal head on a plate, Noel Whelan notes that it also robs the party of some of the best of its recent history: Ahern led Fianna Fáil for 14 of the last 17 years. He has defined the party in the modern age and [...] more »
“But throughout, his government and party turned a blind eye…”
Tweet In the Irish Times the peerless Miriam Lord tackles Micheál Martin’s “swift and decisive” response to the Mahon Tribunal report. From the Irish Times article SPARE US your indignation, Micheál Martin. Button your disgust, Fianna Fáil. We don’t want to hear it. You had your chance and you chose to do nothing. So don’t [...] more »
Learning from the Tories: A road map to recovery for parties in trouble?
Tweet Noel Whelan’s op ed piece is an intelligent structural rip from Tim Bale’s address to the recent Fianna Fail Ard Fheis on lessons to be drawn from the Tory come back after more than 13 years in the political wilderness.. Professor Bale was drawing on his recent study The Conservative Party: From Thatcher to [...] more »
#af12 “No. No interest, feck ’em.”
Tweet It appears that the truth is very slow to dawn on some people. The gates had to be closed as early as 2.25 pm and there were huge queues outside the RDS on the day, but The Examiner gets pretty close to the actual optics of the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis: The queues on [...] more »
“One step forward. Two steps back. Very awkward.”
Tweet In the Irish Times, the peerless Miriam Lord with a useful corrective to more enthusiastic witnesses of the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis at the weekend. From the Irish Times article. IT WAS all terribly awkward. An excruciating comedy of manners where the anxious principals were petrified they might say the wrong thing and upset the [...] more »
If Carlsberg did weekends
Tweet What a weekend – a hugely successful Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis coupled with Ireland leaving Paris undefeated. The energy and enthusiasm at the Ard Fheis was palpable, not to mention the great feeling from being surrounded by thousands of real Republicans, without a single balaclava or cartridge in sight. The passing of One Member [...] more »
Fianna Fail plan to scrap with Fine Gael for lost voters (not Sinn Fein)…
Tweet Dara Calleary has been telling RTE that next weekend’s Ard Fheis will be tough, but despite much comment in the media regarding SF boost in the Sunday Times poll, he’s clear that the party’s real target is Fine Gael… Not surprising if you look at a basket of key constituencies across the state… Currently [...] more »
“Freedom of information it isn’t…”
Tweet In the Irish Times, Noel Whelan takes a look at the Irish presidential candidates’ declared expenditure. [So you don't have to? - Ed] Indeed. He starts by comparing that declared expenditure with what they said, during the campaign, they would spend. From the Irish Times article One of those mental notes was made during [...] more »
“Fianna Fail needs to stop playing stupid patriot games”
Tweet For my money, the Irish Independent’s editorial somewhat scales up the current German influence within the EU for effect, but it warns Fianna Fail it is currently playing the wrong game in calling for a referendum: It is a measure of how the European dream has soured that having joined with the clear intent [...] more »
Latest poll good news for the new opposition (and perhaps next government)?
Tweet No surprise that after a fairly punishing budget for the public sector (not least in education where targeted help for low achieving schools in inner city areas seeing substantial job cuts), that the government rating fell in yesterday’s Behaviours and Attitude poll by ten points to 26%. For the record, that’s the lowest rating [...] more »
The difference between FF and FG? Twelve months.
Tweet Anyone who watched the anodyne post-budget chat between Michael Noonan (FG) and Michael McGrath (FF) on RTE’s PrimeTime on Tuesday must have been reminded of Pearse Doherty’s comment during Sinn Féin’s response to the budget in the Dáil earlier that day that the difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is twelve months. In retrospect the kites that were flown prior to the budget [...] more »
Sinn Fein’s increase was “an average of a mere 37 votes a constituency”
Tweet I’ve just been talking to Ian Parsley, who sounded a somewhat sceptical note on the effective crippling of Sean Gallagher on Frontline last Monday. It remains a great moment of television without a doubt, but Ian wonders if it was more like the Sheffield rally was for Neil Kinnock, whose stock was already on [...] more »
#Aras11: How the Press got it wrong on Gallagher (and failed to admit it)
Tweet Whilst it was perfectly legitimate to probe Martin McGuinness on his paramilitary past in the course of a Presidential election the key reason (character) for doing so was rarely crystalised by the many good journalists who did so. To be blunt, you cannot make political murder a reason for not taking office in state [...] more »
For that reason, Sean, I’m out: #aras11 injury time.
Tweet Sean Gallagher, the Fianna Fáil independent candidate who has been leading the latter stages of the #aras11 race must be hoping that the finishing lines comes as quickly as possible. Martin McGuinness presided over a a very public unfolding of Gallagher’s memory of collecting donations for Fianna Fáil on the final debate on Frontline last night (although no-one seems [...] more »
After all they did, are FF set to win #aras11?
Tweet After all they did, are Fianna Fáil going to win the Presidential election? Or, perhaps as pertinently, are the media going to win it for them? While Mick suggests that they are right to protest that Gallagher is not their ‘dog without a collar’, the limited ability of the media to amass any significant [...] more »
Seán Gallagher, a Fianna Fáil member in the #aras11 race?
Tweet Having managed to mostly fly below the radar, it will be interesting to see if Seán Gallagher, now having shown well enough in the opinion polls, suddenly comes under tighter focus. On RTE, he finally put to bed some of the issues around his membership of Fianna Fáil today. Well, actually, as it turns out, he didn’t, as David Cochrane, [...] more »
Sinn Fein pass Fianna Fail in Irish Times poll…
Tweet Here’s the real reason Martin is running in the race for the Aras. Given Labour, FF and SF are so bunched, the lead is probably more psychological than real, but… When people were asked who they would vote for if a general election were to be held tomorrow, the figures for party support – [...] more »
Where is the Fianna Fail vote going in #Aras11?
Tweet This has just come up as an off topic conversation on another thread. Whilst the Red C poll gives a good idea of where the candidates where just before the campaign began, it does tell us where the core vote of each of the parties is going. Both Sinn Fein and Labour candidates were [...] more »