If Fianna Fáil can't sort the footpaths, people will not believe it can sort housing or health
A file photo of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and current Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach Micheál Martin in 2025. File picture: Niall Carson/PA
And so another week that has prompted soul-searching for Fianna Fáil.
As results rolled in from Dublin Central, it became clear that the party was going to suffer its worst result in the constituency ever.
Even in the nadir of 2011, the party took 15% of the vote and missed out on a seat in Bertie Ahern's constituency more because of intra-party politics than a lack of votes.
John Stephens' 4.2%, just over 1,000 votes, will be pored over by party HQ, but its reasoning was crystalised on a canvass with Fine Gael's Ray McAdam just days before the election.
In Drumcondra, just a stone's throw from Bertie's local of Fagan's, Mr McAdam approached the door of a woman who said that she was 93 years of age and a lifelong voter of Fianna Fáil, but would not be voting for them again.
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Mr McAdam, sensing an opportunity, enquired why that was and the answer was incredibly basic; the footpaths in her estate were in a bad way and, she felt, Fianna Fáil had let her down because that wouldn't have happened in previous years.
When it was put to Taoiseach and party leader Micheál Martin that this once-great stronghold had fallen, he seemed to say that the party had an issue predating his leadership.
Aside from the twin facts that 19 years ago the party took two of four seats including Mr Ahern's surplus putting Cyprian Brady in the Dáil with 939 first preferences and that Mr Martin has been leader for 15 years, there is an element of truth to what he said.
Fianna Fáil has structural issues in many areas that mean it cannot do the things that made it such a massive electoral force for much of its 100 year history.
Mr Ahern's version of Fianna Fáil was not built on any great ideology, and its position on the political spectrum was never anchored which allowed it to move around as needed.
But it never missed a trick when it came to sorting things like footpaths. Mr Ahern's version of transactionalism is spoken about in reverential terms, his teams keeping track of every representation so that it could be sold back to the constituent at election time.
Without councillors in the area, that is difficult. And while Fianna Fáil trumpets its position as the largest party in local government, what qualifies as largest has gone from 548 councillors in 2004 to 247 in 2026.
But when doing things doesn't work, parties need a vision to fall back on, which for all the talk of leadership, underlines a disconnect between Fianna Fáil and the voting public.
When asked by Gavan Reilly what is the point of Fianna Fáil just last week, Mr Martin seemed to not have a clear answer, referencing belief in the EU, its work on the Good Friday Agreement, and leaning on the historical differences between his party and Coalition partners Fine Gael.
"There's an attitude in Fianna Fáil of getting things done," he said.
But if the pitch of Fianna Fáil is being a broad-church centrist party which has the advantage of knowing how to move the levers of government and civil service at all levels, what happens when it no longer carries the critical mass with which to do so?
Ireland has a very sophisticated electorate, but if you can't sort the footpaths, people will not believe you can sort housing or health however divorced the two things are in actual governance.
After the results rolled in, Fianna Fáil TDs fretted about the leadership of Mr Martin, but replacing him is not an easy swap. He is personally popular and likely attracts transfers particularly from Fine Gael voters.
At present Fianna Fáil needs to work out and communicate what it stands for, even if it's just fixing footpaths.
- Paul Hosford, Deputy Political Editor
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