Ahern defends plan for FF in North

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday claimed that unionists should have no fear of Fianna Fáil extending into a 32-county party.

The Taoiseach used the occasion of his party’s annual Wolfe Tone commemoration speech at Bodenstown, Co Kildare, to highlight his party’s ambitions to organise on an all-Ireland basis.

He disclosed that he wrote to all of Fianna Fáil’s 3,000 units last week, setting out details of the consultation process on this issue within the party and requesting submissions to the committee examining this issue, chaired by Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern.

Defending the expansion against claims of divisiveness, Mr Ahern said at the commemoration: “Fianna Fáil will never succumb to the sectarian narrative of Catholic versus Protestant or a narrow nationalism that fails to take account of unionism. The only future we envisage for our people is a future based on respect and equality and partnership with unionism.”

Mr Ahern said that the process would be a slow and gradual one, involving a series of regional meetings and input from interested groups north and south.

He also gave a reminder that in the 12 months since he last delivered the Wolfe Tone address, the St Andrews Agreement had been realised and full devolution and lasting peace had been delivered to the North since May.

However, Gay Mitchell, the Fine Gael MEP and its former foreign affairs spokesman, questioned the entire basis of Fianna Fáil expanding into the North and lampooned Mr Ahern as “Lord Drumcondra”.

He argued that taken to its logical conclusion, the party could be faced with the anomaly of having an MP in the British Parliament in Westminster.

“Fianna Fáil says it is consulting its members on whether to organise in Northern Ireland. Does this mean that it is considering contesting the British elections held there?” asked Mr Mitchell. “If not, are they to be the only party in northern politics not to contest the British elections? Even Sinn Féin contests Westminster elections.”

He continued: “Perhaps the Taoiseach will go to the House of Lords as Lord Drumcondra. Are we to have Fianna Fáil members of the British Privy Council?

“The public should be made aware of precisely what Fianna Fáil intends.

“This is not only an internal matter for a political party; the general public should be told just what is going on,” he added.