Fianna Fáil disarray - Democracy will suffer

POLITICS is all about being in the arena at election time.

More than any other political party in Irish history, that has been the mantra of Fianna Fáil.

With his party machine broken, financially and otherwise, FF leader Micheál Martin had hoped for an association with broadcaster Gay Byrne to bring political kudos without putting up the considerable purse needed to fight a presidential campaign.

Mr Byrne’s decision not to run and MEP Brian Crowley’s decision not to seek the Fianna Fáil nomination leave Mr Martin in a quandary. Facing deep internal divisions, next week’s party meeting on the race for the Áras promises to be a crucial test of his leadership.

Rubbing salt into the wounds, Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell has cheekily appealed to disaffected Fianna Fáil supporters to vote for him.

At the end of the day, politics is about putting party ideologies before the voters. Despite their general election drubbing, if the party fields no presidential candidate the democratic process will be weakened.