Concern in Fianna Fáil about poor polls but no mood for early leadership change

There is a motivational speaker with a confrontational manner who opens up his presentation by picking a member of the audience at random and saying: “I’m Joe Bloggs, who the hell are you?”

The proposition is as simple as this. “I [the speaker] am successful, have made my mark, can easily define myself. Can you?”

There was a time in the past when Fianna Fáil would fit into the category of that speaker. But not any more. Since its fall from grace in 2010, the party has struggled to identify itself in a fragmented political landscape. That fact was brutally exposed in the 2020 general election when it presented itself as a party of change but failed to communicate what it actually stood for or what change looked like.

Following a series of poor opinion polls, and continuing vacillation by the party leadership on the tangled issues of internal reform and renewal, that party has once again found itself in the midst of a crisis of confidence and identity.

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That came to a head this month when, in an unprecedented move, 30 TDs and Senators attended a meeting of backbenchers which specifically excluded ministers and junior ministers.

It was received by some as being a “secret” meeting, effectively an act of rebellion against the leadership, even though organisers insisted its focus was on policy. The motivation for the meeting came out of a heightened sense of frustration by TDs and Senators about a certain indolence on the subject of reform among the upper echelons of the party. As such, it was not an attack on Micheál Martin specifically (though he was very displeased to hear of the meeting), but rather at his lack of urgency in getting Fianna Fáil back up to match fitness.

The Offaly TD Barry Cowen has best expressed this view in recent months.

“We need policies and values that can roll off the tongue when we are talking to members and to the public. We need to be able to go with our chest out and say to people: ‘If you vote for us this is what you are going to get,’” Mr Cowen said.

General agreement

There is general agreement among Fianna Fáil backbench TDs and Senators that the party has not sufficiently put its stamp on Government but there is no widespread support for an early change of leadership or a renegotiation of the Programme for Government.

Over a dozen of the party’s backbenchers who spoke to The Irish Times this week said that consistently poor showings in recent opinion polls, in addition to delays in implementing agreed party reforms, were causes of concern.

Many also said the party has failed to assert its own identity distinct from its Coalition partners Fine Gael and the Greens.

In the days leading up the summer recess last week, there were renewed calls from some internal critics of Micheál Martin to step down.

However, while there is general concern about Fianna Fáil’s standing and what one described as a “complete lack of urgency”, few of those contacted suggested it has been elevated to a level of leadership change or radical change in the Government programme.

‘We have Micheál Martin doing a great job as Taoiseach. If there is nobody else coming forward, he will continue’

“We are in the space with the handover of the office of Taoiseach in December where this question of leadership will arise,” says the Clare TD Cathal Crowe. “That said, I do not see anybody coming forward as an alternative. “If they are, I would love to know who they are. It’s not something we should shy away from as an issue. There is nobody coming forward in the party.

“On that basis, we have Micheál Martin doing a great job as Taoiseach. If there is nobody else coming forward, he will continue.”

Mr Crowe said the health of the party was a “constant concern” for members. But he said he was dismayed to see people calling for Mr Martin to go as soon as he became tánaiste.

‘Stronger position’

“He won’t be there forever. I am less driven by personalities than by policy. There are a lot of people in the party who want to see it do its very best. At the moment, we are doing well under him. We want to improve our performance in opinion polls. We want to be in a stronger position and right now he is doing a good job.

“Despite mutterings it takes a lot of mettle to lead a party and I have not seen anybody come forward yet.”

Mr Crowe was one of those who attended the meeting last week. He said had it been a meeting questioning the leadership, he would not have attended.

The meeting was organised by Cork North Central TD Pádraig O’Sullivan and he insisted last week that its purpose was to allow backbenchers take the initiative on policy and identity.

One TD who attended the meeting said it was “very to the point and very blunt. Many people were saying the same things. They were very frustrated.”

Asked were they frustrated about the leadership, the TD replied: “There is no way that anyone could construe there was any leadership heave coming from that meeting.

“It was the same stuff that came up at Cavan [the two-day parliamentary party meeting in Ballyconnell last September]. It was about Ministers not responding and not listening, about the Government not listening. About having no input into policy.”

Many backbenchers within the party feel that they have been reduced to the role of “lobby fodder”, to use Barry Andrews’ memorable phrase.

Changed dramatically

While some TDs dismissed the idea of a renegotiation of the programme for Government, there was support expressed for a review. Dublin South-West TD John Lahart argued that the world had changed dramatically since 2020 and there were new issues not captured by the programme, including cost of living, construction defects, energy inflation, childcare and special needs.

“There were regular reviews of the programme for Government in previous Fianna Fáil governments with the Greens and the Progressive Democrats. To me, it’s a good idea,” he said.

The former minister said that the party had not articulated its message well, and the constant quarrelling and bickering among its TDs did not go down well with the public.

Another Dublin-based TD said that internal critics of the leadership had “taken their foot off the pedal” earlier this year but had become more active in recent weeks. “I have never felt there is a serious intent there to lay down a challenge in public,” said the TD, who wished not to be named.

A former Fianna Fáil minister and strategist, speaking on an off-the-record basis, said the party needed to redefine itself in light of a changed society. The long-retired minister said it needed to move more left of centre and take up causes such as deprivation, drug misuse, marginalised communities, and advocate for those who have got a raw deal in society, or are struggling to make ends meet. “In a way it’s going back to Fianna Fáil roots.”

The former minister said that the party had not articulated its message well, and the constant quarrelling and bickering among its TDs did not go down well with the public.

“Some of the motivations of those involved in the infighting are suspect,” he argued.

For this Fianna Fáil veteran, choosing a new leader in itself would not be a solution in the short term. “Look at what’s on offer to succeed Micheál Martin. I am not very impressed with the front runners who have been identified.

“My own view is that Fianna Fáil needs to skip a generation, pick one of the new crop from 2020, and begin a 10-year project to revive the party and bring it back to strength.”