Why don’t Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael merge?

Fianna Fáil’s eighth leader Micheál Martin opened his party’s 73rd ard fheis in Dublin last night with a speech on republicanism.

Such a grand subject offers nearly unlimited potential for cheerleading, uplifting, deeply romantic and almost timeless rhetoric.

In its truest sense, inclusive, bigotry-free and — dare we use the word — secular republicanism unites societies, ideas, creeds and energises the sense of common purpose active in nearly all successful communities. Colour-blind republicanism is a force for good and this society needs to revisit the empowering principles that make it such an authentic and effective modus operandi for modern societies.