No time for protest here ... there’s a party on

ONCE there was a time when a protest at a Fianna Fáil gathering would invariably mean disgruntled farmers were yelling out their demands.

Times change and the slick FF machine that's bulwarked by glamour think about the arrival of Nicky Byrne and Georgina Ahern for the Taoiseach's main address didn't face a single farming question this year.

Maybe Joe Walsh's stinging comments about farmers perpetually whingeing hit a nerve or else the great protesters of our time don't see the point in upsetting a FF bash.

Instead what MEP Brian Crowley described as a "joyous occasion" was only briefly marred by less than a dozen anti-war protesters.

Around 3pm and just when delegates were beginning to think about scaling down the speeches to get ready for the Ireland versus Switzerland game, the Gleneagle's security barriers were breached.

About five protesters ran at Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen before gardaí and a private security firm eventually hauled them away.

One man was arrested but was later released.

There was no room for real opposition once inside the doors of the Gleneagle, with delegates forced to submit questions in advance of each minister's speech.

"I don't think the grassroots have as much of a say as they did in the past even during the Haughey years," a Roscommon veteran of more than 30 Árd Fhéiseanna said.

MEP Brian Crowley set the tone early on Saturday morning when he told the party faithful to put on their best smiles when the cameras started rolling.

This happy mood infected everyone, with even the man who had a broken heart just days earlier, Páidí Ó Sé, getting in on the act.

Loyal FF follower Ó Sé joined the party elite on stage after the Taoiseach's main speech as upbeat music belted out across the NEC.

However, not everyone came to the happy gathering, with no reported sightings of disgraced deputies GV Wright or Michael Collins.

Ironically, it was Collins' brother Gerry who told delegates: "We are here because we want to be here." Maybe the brother might have liked to have dropped in too but that might have spoiled the party.