Sir, – In his thoughtful letter questioning the description of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as “conservative behemoths” and “essentially centre-right”, Brian O’Brien lists “among their major achievements” the landmark victories of “legislating to allow abortion and gay marriage ... fulfilling pledges made while campaigning” (“Left and right in Irish politics”, Letters, August 12th).
We must remember it was the work of progressive activists that built both of these campaigns into unstoppable forces, which Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would have stood isolated on the wrong side of history if they continued to oppose.
In 2016, only one out of 44 Fianna Fáil TDs and only six out of 50 Fine Gael TDs declared themselves “personally in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution”, compared to an enormously higher proportion of all other political parties and independent groups.
A few years before her appointment as tánaiste, Fianna Fáil’s Mary Coughlan stonewalled civil partnership, declaring that “this country is not ready for that and may never, ever be ready for it”. In 2009, long before he announced that “I’d like the referendum to pass because I’d like to be an equal citizen in my own country”, future Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also argued against the civil partnership Bill.
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Yes, politicians can change their views on any given issue, but when analysing the political DNA of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, it is misleading to give these parties the credit for landmark socially progressive achievements towards which they had to be poked and prodded for decades. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN Ó ÉIGEARTAIGH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
