A party still frozen in the past

Apologies, gays and émigrés dominated Fianna Fáil’s 73rd ard fheis.

With tiered seating on all four sides it looked like Micheál Martin was giving his keynote address in a boxing ring, which was fitting as he was really fighting against the weight of history. The once dominant Soldiers of Destiny have now become prisoners of the past.

Huge banners dangled from the ceilings outside proclaiming the achievements of every decade since the 1920s, with such landmarks as the peace process illuminating the 2000s. But tellingly, there was no reference to the 2010s — because for Fianna Fáil, history stopped in November 2010 when economic sovereignty was surrendered to the IMF/EU/ECB troika in the most chaotic fashion.