Fianna Fail – Page 5 – Slugger O'Toole

“Are people certain the proceeds from the organised crime is not finding its way into the [SF] political project?”

Mick Fealty on October 21, 2015, 4:48 pm

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Micheal Martin took his second pot shot of the week at Sinn Fein in Leader’s Questions in Dail Eireann in as many days. But this was a more forensic strike than yesterday‘s more on-the-hoof affair. He starts with a reference to £28 Million raised by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) from individuals with “connections or associations” with the Provisional IRA, and then from here asks… Are people absolutely certain Taoiseach that any of the proceeds from the organised crime that’s been going …

Micheal Martin: “Real Irish republicanism is founded on generous, anti-sectarian and international idealism”

Mick Fealty on October 19, 2015, 5:54 pm

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So for me (as I noted in this morning’s SluggerReport) the most interesting event of the weekend was Micheal Martin’s speech at Bodenstown (not Ballyboden as I said this morning) commemorating Wolf Tone, the father of Irish Republicanism. It’s something I’ve been keeping an eye over the last few years because I think Martin has been using this annual occasion to sharpen some of his thinking on north south relations, but more particularly his party’s response to the Sinn Fein …

Fianna Fáil and its role in the North.

Soapbox on October 1, 2015, 1:23 pm

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LEGION OF THE VANGUARD: The electoral meltdown in the Republic of Fianna Fáil in 2011 halted progress in developing party structures in the north. But Eoin Neylon who is the President of Ógra Fianna Fáil and a former member of the Willie Drennan Cumann of Queens University, Belfast looks forward to first Ogra Conference north of the border in Newry.

Micheál Martin: Setting a high standard, for everyone except himself?

Robin Keogh on July 20, 2015, 2:35 pm

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Setting high standards for everybody else to live up to is all very well, but failing to live up to them yourself is not the mark of a credible future Taoiseach. With an eye on the next 26 county general election, Michael Martin has recently ramped up his attacks on Sinn Fein. While his most recent rant speech includes attacks on Republicans, Unionists and both the Dublin and London governments, it’s clear who the real target is. Martin has said in …

Putting a narrative on your political past.

David McCann on July 19, 2015, 10:51 pm

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The past is always a difficult thing for parties to deal with. The Tories for example, wrestled for years with how they should deal with the Thatcher legacy and modernise themselves to represent a Britain that had socially changed going into the 21st century. Closer to home this very same problem is impacting on Fianna Fail today. The party suffered an all mighty hammering at the polls in 2011 due to the economic collapse and the several austerity budgets that …

Is the Greek crisis running an important political counterfactual on Ireland’s ‘nightmare bailout’?

Mick Fealty on June 30, 2015, 2:23 pm

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I have to say that I take a rather different view from Paul on Ireland and the current phase of the Eurocrisis. Like all wicked problems, it is one replete with all sorts of layers and the Grexit issue is only one in a long line of thorny issues that will have to be dealt with. If there is a value in the comparison with Thatcher it might be between Tspiras and Arthur Scargill. You cannot fail to sympathise with the …

Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein and their different approaches to ‘local difficulty’…

Mick Fealty on June 25, 2015, 5:21 pm

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“The Cobh cumann had been stood down in February…” says Cork NOrth Central TD Jonathan O’Brien, therefore voiding their ability to resign en masse. The BBC couldn’t get a word with Kieran McCarthy, since he seems to have been too busy talking to everyone else. As one wit put it on Twitter this morning… Wait! You can leave Sinn Féin? I thought it was like the Hotel California, the Catholic Church, the Mafia and the Immersion On. — Jim Daly …

In Government or howling at the moon? Coalition politics in Ireland

David McCann on June 22, 2015, 10:56 pm

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We are fast approaching the next Irish general election and this one is likely to be a real squeaker in terms of which combinations win enough seats to form a stable government. The latest polls show us a couple of things; Fine Gael (unless they fight a terrible campaign) will be the largest party. Sinn Fein will come third. The local elections showed the trend towards the party and it is very unlikely at this stage that Labour will over …

Fianna Fail’s future is the radical centre

Johnny Fallon on May 25, 2015, 9:40 pm

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Many voices are rushing to tell Fianna Fail what direction it needs to go. Mark Beegan is a Public Relations Consultant and Fianna Fáil activist. He specialises in political communication and media relations. He argues that simple ideological analysis is not enough and is not what Fianna Fail was ever about. Senator Power’s bombshell has brought forward a debate long needed in Irish politics. Where does Fianna Fáil stand and for whom? John McGuirk and Pat Leahy have both …

Take a position or face irrelevance – The FF choice?

Johnny Fallon on May 25, 2015, 3:32 pm

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Fianna Fail needs to decide on its path for the future. Most of all it needs to decide who it represents according to Communications Consultant John McGuirk. A year ago today, two of Fianna Fáil’s biggest stars were its young, attractive, articulate Senator for North Dublin, Averil Power, and it’s poll-topping, gravity-defying MEP for Munster, Brian Crowley. In the most barren era for the party since its foundation, members could point to both as examples of the party’s continued …

Whatever Sen Power says now, Fianna Fail’s Leadership took a strong stance

Derek Mooney on May 25, 2015, 2:27 pm

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Averil Power’s announcement this morning that she is resigning from Fianna Fáil is bad news. It will hurt the party and hurt the many people in Fianna Fáil who have supported her over the past few years. Though I doubt Averil would have counted me as a particular friend, we did serve together as Ministerial Advisers for about six years. In that role I got to see her working up close. I saw how committed and dedicated a worker she …

Is it possible that Fianna Fail has turned another one of those invisible corners?

Mick Fealty on April 30, 2015, 3:06 pm

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So averting gaze from the mesmerising polling of the UK election, and to the unfixed electoral politics of the Republic, here’s a constructive question. Is Fianna Fail on the rise again? Mad, eh? Well, Jody Corcoran does not have a completely unblemished track record when it comes to predicting the future. Still, the 1400 at the party’s selection meeting in Kerry is larger than several parties’ national conferences, and 800 turned up in Sligo last week. Specifically Jody notes that… …

Adams v Martin: Well that escalated quickly

David McCann on April 20, 2015, 2:17 pm

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This morning the Fianna Fail leader, Micheal Martin and the Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams went head to head over remarks made by Martin at the annual 1916 commemoration yesterday where he stated that Sinn Fein where unfit for democratic government. Here is the audio of the tense exchange between the two leaders Who got the better of whom in this exchange? David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on …

A tentative answer to the question: “what does Fianna Fail stand for?”

Mick Fealty on March 24, 2015, 2:38 pm

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So miles away from the talk of pacts and sectarian games last Friday, East Galway Colm Keaveney, the former Irish Labour Party Chair who has been one of the few movers across to the Fianna Fail whip in the Dail, had an interesting grilling from NewsTalk’s Sean Moncrieff in Galway: It takes a while to get started but this section in particular caught caught my ear, not least because it has been one of the few lucid public attempts by …

Sinn Fein’s support in the South now mirroring Northern electoral result.

David McCann on February 15, 2015, 12:10 pm

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The latest Millward Brown poll for the Sunday Independent was released yesterday and it shows that Sinn Fein are Ireland’s most popular party on 26% to Fine Gaels 25%. Fianna Fail are on 19%, Labour on 6% and the Independents are on 23%. In terms of seats the NUIM academic gives the figures as follows Dail seat estimates based on constituency level analysis of 25 Feb Sunday Independent-Millward Brown poll FG 46 SF 45 FF 34 IND/OTH 33 LAB 1 …

Anger may win elections but it’s useless in effecting change without policy…

Mick Fealty on February 13, 2015, 12:33 pm

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Over a week old, but still some of the best advice Enda Kenny will get anywhere in the public domain. The tailend of Tom Kelly’s column from the Irish News: Watching events unfold in Greece and the mass demonstrations of the far left in Madrid, nerves are becoming tetchy in Merrion Street. The Taoiseach is looking less Teflon like every day. He has always been the accidental Taoiseach albeit a lucky one but the forthcoming election will take more than …

[Updated] Sinn Féin behaves like the Tories in North and talks like Syriza in the Republic

Mick Fealty on February 12, 2015, 11:30 am

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To be fair, I nicked that headline from Derek Mooney, a former FF special advisor, so there is an evident and intended spin to it. And yet it contains more than just a grain of truth to it. Having nearly collapsed the Assembly [Aye right! – Ed] Sinn Fein accepted the outline of a deal it had originally co-produced with the DUP with very little clear detail on what extra money would be forthcoming. Courtesy of Gerry Moriarty in the Irish Times, Martin McGuinness …

Fianna Fail has to become about Big Ireland in order to have a future

David McCann on December 23, 2014, 11:44 am

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A few days ago I wrote about Sinn Fein and the need for parts of the media to drop their obsession with Gerry Adams. Writing about a topic a bit closer to my own heart, Fianna Fail has some real challenges going into 2015. Let’s recap, the party suffered an all merciful hiding at the last election losing 58 seats, falling from 41.6% to 17.4% in the popular vote and seeing many of its prospects for the future losing their …

Poll of Polls 2014: FG/Lab/FF down, SF up and Independents most popular group in Ireland

David McCann on December 10, 2014, 2:38 pm

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Well it’s nearly over, 2014 Ireland had the local and European elections, a Cabinet Reshuffle, resignations and another budget as the current government cross the halfway mark in this term of office. So, how have the parties been performing over the past year? I took a look at the various RedC polls that have been conducted throughout the year. In terms of overall party support here is how each party has been performing since 2013. Fine Gael-25.8% (-2.3%) Labour-8.2% (-2.8%) …

Charlie: Remembering the Haughey era

David McCann on December 7, 2014, 5:15 pm

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Two reasons I bring this up now, the first is the annoucement of the Charlie drama which will be hitting RTE on 4th January 2015. and second, today is the 35th anniversary of the election of Charles Haughey as Fianna Fail leader. For any of you not familiar with Irish history, Haughey beat his long time rival George Colley with 44 votes-38. His win a huge shock to the senior figures in the party, all but two of the cabinet …