A chara, – I was very pleased to be a participant in the very successful Fianna Fáil ard fheis. It was a very constructive weekend of policy discussion, organisational reform and internal renewal including elections where I was privileged to join many other new faces on the national executive.
I note your coverage included juxtaposition of the “working abroad” expo which was held concurrently at the RDS and some snide commentary about same (Miriam Lord, March 5th).
It should be noted that many of our delegates also visited that expo while at the ard fheis, being in a similar boat to any other expo attendees. It should also be noted that our gathering this year included new cumainn formed from members already abroad and representatives from the exiled Diaspora – indeed some election candidates and very valued voices were among their number.
The vast majority of the 4,000 delegates at the ard fheis and the 40,000 Fianna Fáil members nationwide experience the difficulties of recession as starkly as anyone else. We remain determined to find constructive solutions to these problems. Others may differ on the political way forward. The Fianna Fáil party is not and never was an elite cabal, but is a party of ordinary members living ordinary lives and with the same ordinary problems as everyone else. Rather than media images obsessing on a handful of familiar faces in the crowd, the media should perhaps listen to the other 3,997 delegates in attendance and now in the driving seat.
The get-together at the weekend was in one large part about the membership taking back ownership of the party and that project is well underway. – Is mise,
JAMES LAWLESS,
Sallins Pier,
Sallins,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – The Fianna Fáil apology for mismanagement would have been more effective if Mr Cowen and Mr Ahern had personally gone out to the line of young would-be emigrants – many of whom find themselves in this position because of their misconduct of the economy! – Yours, etc,