TD to oppose ‘one member, one vote’ plan

Fianna Fáil has admitted there are some members within the parliamentary party who have concerns about proposed changes to its structure to be voted on at this weekend’s ard fheis.

One frontbench TD, John Browne, has publicly stated he will oppose the “one member, one vote” system which Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin sees as crucial to rebuilding the party.

A debate will take place on Saturday on the motion, which will give each party member an equal say on selecting candidates for elections and voting on issues at national conventions.

It will do away with the current system in which each cumann has just three senior members, or delegates, who are allowed to vote at conventions.

The three often have a loyalty to one sitting TD, making it harder for new candidates to be selected. They also tend to make it harder for new members to join the party.

It’s the only item on the agenda for the party conference to be discussed behind closed doors and without the media present. A majority of 50% plus one will be needed to push the motion through.

At the launch of the programme for the ard fheis, justice spokesman, Dara Calleary, said everyone would be entitled to express their views openly on the issue.

“We are not trying to hide dissent,” said the Mayo TD. “We want people to speak out. John is quite passionate since day one in relation to one member one vote and I wouldn’t expect John Browne to hide his feelings on any issue.”

Asked if there were any other TDs against the proposals who did not want to publicly disagree with the party leader, he said: “There are some with concerns about it. But they wouldn’t be as strong in their opposition to it as John is.”

He said most TDs were “passionately in favour of this system” and were “on the road every night speaking to members around the country”.

The party leadership believes the system will give more power to existing members and attract new ones. General secretary, Seán Dorgan, said there was a “real live debate” taking place within the party on the proposed system: “These are very, very radical proposals to change and enhance the organisation so it’s important that there’ll be a real debate.”