Fianna Fáil must unite and move forward

MAY I indulge upon your valuable space with an open letter to every single member of our organisation — Fianna Fail.

After what must go down in history as the most callous campaign of personal vilification against our Taoiseach Brian Cowen, I — as a rank and file member — appeal to all our membership to close ranks and to bury our animosities with the bones of our ancestors and encompass our Fianna Fáil heritage.

Let us co-ordinate and stimulate ourselves and to reach for new dimensions and horizons in national and social outlook.

Let us show one another to be brave and mature enough to rid ourselves of internal divisions, to maintain our basic objectives intact.

And, let the members of the parliamentary party show us in the rearguard of the party that they can take their courage in their hands and move forward with a combination of tolerance and magnanimity to ensure the future of this great organisation which is Fianna Fail.

It is with such an outlook that the country awaits and it is beholden on all of us to show by example a spirit of comradeship which can subjugate all our differences — indeed it is such a spirit that wins even in the teeth of the most dreadful setbacks.

Michael J Stokes

Templeogue

Dublin 6