Crowley’s solo run - Another nail in the coffin

As an expression of powerlessness it was, well, pretty powerful. The exclusion from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party of solo-run MEP Brian Crowley seems a pretty limp censure of someone who has given the most public two fingers to those who voted for him, his party leadership, and their authority.

It is hardly the uno duce, una voce whip cracking of the Haughey or even the Ahern regimes. And it is certainly not an example of the on-message, steely discipline that kept the Soldiers of Destiny in power for decades. Coming so soon after the humiliation foisted on the party’s leadership by a defiant but victorious Mary Hannifin, it seems like another nail in the coffin for Micheál Martin’s leadership.

Mr Crowley’s move is so indisciplined and so self-serving that it epitomises the lack of principle that has brought Fianna Fáil to its lowest point ever. Nevertheless, his position is more secure than that of Mr Martin.