‘Leave no stone unturned’ for votes, FF grassroots told

FACING into electoral humiliation Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has pleaded with the grassroots of his party to spend every waking hour battling to ensure it remains a force in Irish politics.

He told supporters the party had to fight for every vote and “leave no stone unturned” in the scramble for seats in the next Dáil.

“I love this country, and I love this party, and I know you do too. So let’s make every minute matter until the voting ends and the counting begins,” he said.

In a speech billed as a significant last-ditch bid to revitalise the Fianna Fáil base, Mr Martin gave a calm and measured performance which sought to explain why he had not looked to buy the election with promises.

His 25-minute speech to the rally in Navan’s Newgrange Hotel recounted the stand-out personalities in the party’s history and its roots as a political splinter group struggling to survive.

Afterwards he acknowledged the party had lost support and he was asking followers who had lapsed or moved away to come back.

He told members their loyalty was valued and he needed them to play a part in rebuilding the party after the election.

At times the speech provoked loud applause but overall the sombre tone and stifling heat of the packed venue kept the crowd subdued.

Mr Martin said Fianna Fáil needed to be true to its traditions and if it returned to its core principles it could win back the loyalty of the Irish people.

He conceded that the party had been a willing participant in the bidding war of the 2007 election and it had played a role in creating the political culture which brought the country to its current state.

However, he appealed to his followers to use “every waking hour” to eat into the lead of the two parties likely to form the next government.

“Let’s turn out to vote and turn up the heat on those who believe elections are won before the people’s voice is heard,” he said.

The crowd of more than 300 packed into the Knowth Suite to hear the speech, which was organised to tee up the final four days of campaigning. It was a slickly choreographed event to send a message to the Fianna Fáil faithful around the country that its canvassers were needed.

A large group of younger members of the audience was positioned behind Mr Martin and dominated the television camera shot as he spoke.

However, the demographic of the crowd in the Newgrange Hotel was betrayed when one of the loudest rounds of applause of the night came after Mr Martin said it was Fianna Fáil who had protected social supports for the elderly and pledged it would do so for the State pension.

Later, Mr Martin said the age profile of the party was something it had to work on but it could and would change, particularly in the colleges.

Two separate weekend opinion polls and the MRBI results yesterday morning suggested Mr Martin’s three-week effort to revive the Fianna Fáil electoral support has been insufficient.

If these polls tally with this Friday’s ballot the party’s support will have more than halved in three- and-a-half years. But Mr Martin said if the base got out and worked in the last week, it was poised to increase its share.

A return of less than 20% would leave it in a battle for transfers to return deputies in three-seat constituencies.

In Meath it won four seats out of six in 2007 and could lose them all by the end of the week.

Meath West deputy Johnny Brady warmed up the crowd in the hotel with a raucous rallying cry to get the grassroots working for Fianna Fáil.

He said he began his political career giving speeches on orange boxes at church gates, meeting people down laneways and side streets and this is what was needed in the final week.