Nobody, by all accounts, stood up in Sligo to complain or condemn, writesMark Brennock
There wasn't a whinger to be found. Over two days in the Sligo Park Hotel more than 100 Fianna Fáil TDs, senators and MEPs heard speeches, attended policy workshops and socialised enthusiastically.
Nobody, by all accounts, stood up to complain about Cabinet performance, to revolt against the smoking ban, condemn the handling of the Laffoy Commission or list broken promises.
Even in private, parliamentary party members chose not to share any grumbles with the media.
Indeed most said the experience had been very positive, quite different from last year's similar gathering in Killarney. Back then, Oireachtas members had come back from their summer break to face complaints of betrayal from constituents and relentless criticism in the media over broken election promises. Backbenchers made their views known, criticising the Government's poor handling of the change of course immediately after the General Election.
This year's seminar was preceded by public criticisms of the Cabinet performance in general by Carlow Kilkenny deputy Mr John McGuinness, and of the Minister for Agriculture, in particular, from Cork East deputy Mr Ned O'Keeffe.
However, in his opening address to the party the Taoiseach chose to confront the two by name, criticise them for going public with their criticisms and call on them to deal with any complaints privately within the party instead.
They couldn't accuse the Government of lack of cohesion while going out suggesting the party itself lacked cohesion, he went on. His remarks received general applause.
Two newer deputies said later they were pleased with the Taoiseach's comments.
They too were under pressure in their constituencies to distance themselves from unpopular Government actions but had chosen not to, they said. They were glad to see that those who had done so over a period of time were not being allowed do so unchallenged.
In relation to the recent Laffoy controversy, parliamentary party members conceded that it was a mess but said it was such a mess that the Cabinet alone could not be blamed. "They're not queuing up at my clinic to complain about it," said one deputy, who conceded that the issue was nevertheless very important for many people.
Government Chief Whip Ms Mary Hanafin consistently described the party mood as "buoyant", despite recent difficulties.
She conceded that last year had seen more unhappiness but that this year they were more focused on the policy issues ahead and on next year's local and European elections.
A Cabinet Minister, asked whether backbenchers were happy, said: "It's not in their nature to be happy." This is because almost all backbenchers did not want to be backbenchers, but Cabinet Ministers.
The psychologist Dr Maureen Gaffney touched on this during an address yesterday morning. Speaking on the changing social agenda in Ireland, she took time to give the politicians some psychological analysis.
Politicians, she said, were like out-of-work actors. They were only as good as their last performance, and they spent a lot of time hanging around in insecurity hoping one day to get a starring role. The only way to deal with this was "positive thinking", she said.