INTERVIEW:THE CONFERENCE room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Blanchardstown Shopping Centre in Dublin has a bizarre design theme: bogs. Huge legends inform us that bogs once covered huge tracts of Ireland. Finland is the only European country which has more.
From this vast suburb of endless pebbledash, steel and concrete vistas, the nearest bog is about the same distance away as the residence of the nearest Fianna Fáil TD. A long, long motorway drive.
This unusual room is the chosen venue for another incongruity in the capital: the Dublin West leg of party leader Micheál Martin’s tour to meet the party faithful in all 43 constituencies.
Like the bogs, Fianna Fáil once covered most of Ireland but has now receded perilously to the point of endangered habitat. Here, about 150 people have turned up in the constituency of the late Brian Lenihan – a good turnout for Dublin. The themes discussed are broadly the same as elsewhere with the debate focusing on organisation and core values. There is also the added frisson of a byelection here.
Local members are pressing for a local, not an imposed, candidate. Martin, in shirtsleeves, does not allow the energy or interest levels to dip during a few hours of give-and-take. He gives the impression of being keen for the task.
The next day, in his office in Leinster House, a relaxed Martin mixes realism and optimism when talking about the task in hand.
“It’s a very difficult challenge. When I became leader I was under no illusions that we were facing into a significant defeat in the election.
“On the other side it represents opportunity in the sense of renewing not just Fianna Fáil, but bringing in a new generation of people with new ideas and views.”
Martin has become leader at the lowest ebb in the party’s 80 years, where its very survival in doubt. His short-term prognosis is downbeat: “There are no magic knock-out blows, no magic moments when we are suddenly going to go from 15 per cent to 30 per cent. This is going to be long haul. We are not going to go up in the polls for at least 18 months.” But he expresses no doubt about the longer term. “My view that we can recover has been bolstered by the numbers turning out at meetings around the country. Their enthusiasm and energy give a sense they want Fianna Fáil to become a vital force again.”
Martin’s decisions on the Seanad election strategy, and on Gay Byrne and the presidency, have been well thrashed out.
More pressing is the mammoth task of recovery. Ironically, the radical organisational changes being proposed – one-member one-vote; subscriptions; an elected head of the youth wing Ógra; the abolition of cumainn in Dublin – will most likely sail through the special ardfheis next February.
What’s more tricky is the parallel process, the party’s own truth and reconciliation commission. Martin himself is taking charge of identifying where Fianna Fáil lost its way and redefining its aims.
What’s clear from his comments is that it will involve a move to the left. The party’s think-in on Monday will hear from unemployed people and Martin constantly refers to its humble roots in the course of the interview.
“The party was founded with the support of small farmers in the 1920s. In urban areas many working-class people joined Fianna Fáil. We have lost that [base] to a certain extent . . . Image and profile-wise we moved away from that.”
Martin also returns more than once to the five founding principles of 1926 and the need to rekindle the party’s republicanism; a sense of egalitarianism; its big emphasis on education, the Irish language and civil liberties.
“The five principles will stand. We must recognise new aspects . . . There are emerging challenges. How do we look after people to make sure that they age in our society with security and confidence? . . . We need to look at the environment, biodiversity, sustainability and energy. The modernisation of core values are important.”
In his view where did Fianna Fáil lose the plot? “I always felt that both the Moriarty tribunal, the Charlie Haughey module, and the other tribunals had a corrosive effect on the image of the party and the thousands of people in the party who never benefited from politics . . . That continued during the planning modules [of Mahon].
“We got away with that during the boom years because people were satisfied with the full employment and increased social welfare and low taxes. It has had a long-term debilitating effect on the party in terms of morale and attraction of the party to people.”
That said, he believes the main reasons for its electoral tailspin was the economic collapse.
In retrospect, he is a critic of his own government’s policies: “We spent too much and we taxed too low. The tax base was reduced to a level that was not sustainable.”
Last week, in an unprecedented criticism of a former party leader, he described comments made by Bertie Ahern as “irresponsible”. Of the imminent Mahon tribunal report, he says Fianna Fáil will deal with it “upfront, resolutely and with a view to taking on board all recommendations”. Asked specifically about possible findings against Ahern, he reiterates: “I think if you look back at the language I just used, that’s the position, it will be resolute.”
Martin rejects the notion that he himself is tarnished because he was a minister in successive governments. “I do not accept the tarnishing label . . . On the other side of the coin, my experience of different portfolios is important to the party. I think I’m an asset to the party in that respect and it outweighs any fallout in the immediate term.”
Asked does he accept that he might be the first Fianna Fáil leader not to be taoiseach, he replies: “That’s a possibility, of course, but it’s not something I wake up every morning worrying about. My most immediate priority is renewal of the party and renewing its politics.”
And his aims? He says the first electoral test will be the local elections in 2014. He won’t talk about targets for seats on councils or in the Dáil, saying it is much too early for evaluation.
Quality, of views and vision will be as important as numbers, he argues. It is a retelling of Michael McDowell’s “radical or redundant” axiom. But is that convincing? Quantity, particularly the critical mass of seats, is also important if Fianna Fáil is to return as a force in political life. As McDowell found out, you can be both radical and redundant.