COMMENT: FF starting from the bottom to rebuild a future

THE leader’s address that rounded up the Fianna Fáil ard fheis was underwhelming to say the least.

There was criticism of the Government, yes, but the gloves were hardly off. There was glory sought for the party’s “constructive” approach in opposition, but no one was jumping out of their chairs triumphantly. And while Micheál Martin invited people to “share in our values” he wasn’t asking the public to forgive them just yet.

This was the steady-as- you-go ard fheis. Last year’s was all about apologising for the mistakes it had made in office, and next year’s will launch the fightback ahead of the local and European elections.

This year’s was somewhere in between: It was about reflection at a time of transition, for a party in renewal, as they keep reminding us, but still a far way from being renewed.

Fianna Fáil’s resurgence in recent polls shows it enjoying a steady 25% of support. However, the party is cautious not to get too carried away. Indeed, they are aware of the dangers of being seen to be let off the hook too easily, too early.

The Taoiseach’s appeal on Friday morning for voters to think long and hard about forgiving Fianna Fáil was a reminder to its TDs that any revival has to be seen to be earned.

As one person put it at the weekend gathering in the RDS, they don’t want to appear too comebacky.

It was clear from Mr Martin’s keynote speech that he was aware of the limits of credibility for a party who destroyed the economy and betrayed the trust of the people: He resisted any temptation to defend the record of the party, and he held back on an all-out attack on theCoalition.

Instead, he was digging deep into the roots of support that the party has around the country. He appealed to “businesses on our streets ” — a traditional solid source of support for what was once dubbed “the publicans’ party”.

Mr Martin said this group were “feeling the most pressure” and must be “helped to prosper”.

He proposed an appeals system for commercial rates “which takes into account ability to pay”. And if their business closes down, as so many have, they should not be left “high and dry” and denied social welfare.

Mr Martin has also been reaching out to farmers, with his party taking advantage of the fodder crisis in recent weeks to characterise a lack of concern by the Government. Not only did he criticise “the lack of action” on the issue during his speech, but he made further suggestions that he was on farmers’ sides, insisting “Ireland should stand resolutely against the proposal to cut all farm support by 10% as proposed by European leaders”.

STILL reclaiming the more traditional values of the party, he spoke about the importance of “community life” during “tough times”.

He referred to the link between gardaí and their communities and how “schools are the heartbeat of our communities”.

One factor often overlooked in Fianna Fáil’s downfall was that local party structures around the country had either withered away or become outdated during the Bertie Ahern years — something which was masked by boom-time electoral success. In one contribution during a motion on Saturday afternoon, Mr Martin said that, when he travelled around the country to meet members as part of a consultation process following the disastrous 2011 result, “one of the strongest themes to emanate from those meetings was the sense of disconnection between the parliamentary party and grassroots members”.

“We all have to resolve that we have to reconnect, but also to have structures in place to ensure re-connection is a permanent feature in our party.”

Mr Martin said members should not just exist to distribute leaflets and take part in the national collection. “We want our membership to be much more involved than that.”

He has already introduced the one-member-one-vote approach to candidate selection, removing the ability of the old guard to have a monopoly on who is put forward for election.

At the ard fheis, it was agreed to begin a consultation process on a new system for selecting a party leader — doing away with the old system where it was just decided by TDs.

And the leadership will also consult on bringing in new rules to ensure that if the party enters coalition, it will have to put the programme for government to a vote of members — like the Labour Party does now.

Fine Gael, during its time in opposition during the Ahern years, was busy modernising and developing its organisational structure. Now Fianna Fáil has to play catch up.

During the boom years, Fianna Fáil became something like a playboy son of a self-made millionaire, living off the labour of its forefathers. When the inheritance ran out, it had no idea how to do things for itself.

This ard fheis showed a party that has learnt the hard way that there is no easy way back to the days of glory. It is starting from the bottom to steadily regain its fortune, and looking to what worked for it in the past, to try and build a stable future.