David Quinn: Micheal, time to reshape destiny of Fianna Fail or lose more votes
If Fianna Fail had any sense it would adopt two principles: look after the money and the family. Follow these and society can't go too badly wrong
When I criticised the direction in which Micheal Martin is taking Fianna Fail in my column last Friday, some people asked me, why bother? Fianna Fail, they said is a busted flush and an irrelevancy. There's a lot of truth in that, but the country needs a strong, coherent Opposition and far better Fianna Fail than Sinn Fein.
On Monday, the party is having a special 'think-in' and for its own sake it had better engage in some very hard thinking and ask itself some very tough questions.
I strongly believe that Martin's current approach will not restore his party's fortunes long-term, and may do the opposite. I compared him last week with Fr Trendy because he is trying to associate his party with various fashionable causes. But like Fr Trendy desperately trying to attract young people to Mass with his right-on views, it is a strategy doomed to failure.
Fianna Fail's temptation is, in fact, a lot like the one before all the churches, which is to become more liberal in order to become more 'relevant'. However, every church which has adopted this approach has seen its fortunes sink even further because, while such an approach may earn a pat on the head from liberals, it doesn't attract any additional churchgoers and it alienates existing ones.
Fianna Fail under Martin could well attract a few approving nods from Labour supporters because of this or that liberal/left social policy, but those supporters will never, ever vote for Fianna Fail. Becoming a sort of Labour-lite is simply not the path for his party to follow.
Last week, I expressed the vain hope that Fianna Fail might instead look to copy David Cameron's Conservatives, but with an Irish flavour. Big mistake. The Tories in whatever form are absolute anathema to Fianna Fail, so I'd have been better off suggesting they copy some of the policies of the governing UMP in France, their erstwhile colleagues in the European Parliament. Or maybe the Liberals in Australia, who are really conservatives.
If Fianna Fail had any sense, it would adopt two of the main guiding principles of political conservatism, namely, look after the money and look after the family. Follow these principles, and an economy and a society can't go too badly wrong.
Responding to my column in this newspaper on Tuesday, Martin spent a lot of time writing off my views as outmoded and overly ideological. He also spent a lot of time boasting about the "socially significant" legislation Fianna Fail has passed over the years, including civil partnerships for same-sex couples.
But absolutely nowhere in the article was there a crumb of comfort for Fianna Fail supporters who are pro-life or pro-family. This is a very dangerous game for him to play. Fianna Fail is in no position to take anyone's vote for granted, especially if it is chasing a vote it almost certainly won't get.
Martin might dismiss my views as outmoded or ideological, but he would want to take care that along the way he doesn't also dismiss everyone else who believes in the right to life of the unborn, or the special importance of traditional marriage.
Martin owes it to his party to make perfectly clear where he stands on a number of social issues. For example, what is his stance on embryo research? Previously he indicated a certain level of support for it. What does he think now?
Where does he stand on family policy? For example, does he believe that, in general, it is best for a child to be raised by their own mother and father? To date, the main reason marriage is given special support is to encourage mothers and fathers to raise their own children together. Does Fianna Fail believe this is still a worthwhile goal of social policy?
regarding denominational schools, Martin's policy is about as clear as mud. Fianna Fail has said it favours multi-denominational 'community schools'. It acknowledges that parents have a right to send their children to denominational schools.
But does the party see denominational schools as a good in themselves, or would it prefer if, in time, all children went to 'community schools'?
Given that Fianna Fail wants to impose a 'multi-faith' enrolment policy on all schools, including denominational schools, the latter would seem to be the case.
So far, Micheal Martin has been making a play for voters who like socially liberal policies. He has sent no signals whatever to those who are pro-life and pro-family.
Does he really intend to alienate such voters? Does his Fianna Fail have no real place for them? His party needs to know.
The temptation at Monday's think-in will be to follow the line of least resistance and avoid any real debate.
But the party will be doing itself no favours if it comes away from that meeting without a very clear idea of where it stands on such issues as the right to life, family policy, and denominational schools.
Irish Independent
