Martin’s most momentous choice as Fianna Fáil leader? Fine Gael

SOMETIMES sorry is insufficient. An apology has to be accepted to be complete.

Micheál Martin competently navigated his first ard fheis as party leader. Centrepiece of his presidential address was the unequivocal apology forFianna Fáil’s failures in government. This fell short of providing any specifics. He is certainly not sorry for the bank bailout. Sorry for Nama? Partnership allowed to rule the roost? Nationalising Anglo or Nationwide? Benchmarking? EU/IMF/ECB bailout? Lack of depth in contrition smacks of tokenism. The standing ovation from delegates was bizarre. The warmth of welcome for urinating on Bertie and Cowen represented a somersault on previous diehard loyalty. In reality, they were accepting an apology for the loss of 58 Dáil seats. Sorry for themselves.

Leader of the opposition has always been the dirtiest job in Irish politics. One can only talk, rather than act. Lack of executive power means weakened personal authority. Many a taoiseach has appeared ineffective leading their party on opposition benches. The office makes the man. Martin’s task is insurmountable. With only 19 TDs, he has to win 60 seats to lead his party into government as taoiseach. The extent of party collapse was so great in the last election that surely it will take two terms before they can become the largest party again. Voter volatility has to reach new heights to allow FF to pole vault back in one leap. Even if an entire new cohort of councillors are elected in 2014, it seems impossible to go from one seat in Dublin to the required 20+.