Nothing new about the Fine Gael Árd Fheis

FOR sheer entertainment, the recent Fine Gael Árd Fheis was hard to beat.

We were told the winds of change were blowing, and even Ghandi was invoked. What we got was a policy platform that lurched awkwardly from sanitised socialism to reactionary tosh.

The word ‘new’ featured a lot. We were told it was “time for a change” and that Fine Gael would get “tough”.

Heady stuff. The potential candidates on offer were a mixture ranging from the all too familiar Dad’s Army corps of Fine Gael lifers (so much for ‘new’) to a kiddies’ corner still in political nappies.

To complete the mix a few medics were thrown in promising to reform the health service in five minutes, and God knows what else. Cripes!

Maurice Dockrell

12 Glenomena Grove

Blackrock

Co Dublin