As political records go, a party that can boast about being in power for 61 of the 79 years from when it first took office in 1932 to 2011 sounds pretty impressive.
When Éamon de Valera founded Fianna Fáil in 1926 he hardly envisaged that kind of success. But then that was a party rooted in grassroots activism and the famous FF election machine – nothing could be further from today’s leadership-centred organisation now reliant more on state funding than an activist base for its survival.
Fianna Fáil’s recent watershed moment came in the 2011 general election when, in the aftermath of the financial crash, the party went from 71 to 20 seats overnight. That was new territory for Fianna Fáil and its fortunes have been precarious, to say the least, ever since. In the 2020 general election, despite being the main opposition to a Fine Gael party in government for nine years, the party underperformed managing just 22% of the vote; more recently a Red C opinion poll put its support at 16%.
The thing about Fianna Fáil in 2023 is that it now appears to be run by the leadership largely for the benefit of the leadership. Most leaders of political parties, after an obvious rejection by the electorate, do the honourable thing and stand down. But this was not the case with Fianna Fáil after the 2020 general election. Having solemnly promised to replace Fine Gael in government, the FF leadership instead went into government with them. This was sold as one of those ‘in the national interest’ moments although for most people it looked a lot more like being in the interests of the Fianna Fáil leadership since it had failed to get a democratic mandate in the same election.
The big talking point for political pundits these days is whether Fianna Fáil will go into power with their new arch rivals Sinn Féin after the next election. But we have all been here before with the elaborate courtship rituals – Fianna Fáil also had similar principled reservations about their old rivals Fine Gael before the 2020 general election. The desire to be in power now appears to be about the only core principle the party, or more correctly the leadership, has.
The Fianna Fáil backbench TD is the stuff of legends in Irish political lore. Much like worker bees, their lot today is an unenviable one – their task is to work tirelessly without complaint and support the leadership in whatever it wants. However, that leadership has never been more removed from these same backbench TDs who are little more than voting fodder for it.
Indeed, the lot of the Fianna Fáil backbench TD has never been more pitiful. Not alone has much of the grassroots activist organisation underneath them disappeared but so too, the party leadership is increasingly aloof and removed. Gender ideology, hate speech legislation, open borders and Green climate legislation are hardly hot button topics for your average FF backbencher but this is now the type of legislation they have been dutifully voting through at the behest of the party leadership.
This gap between the leadership has now extended to ordinary grassroots members. There was a time when the leadership needed ordinary cumann members for practical things like nailing up election posters, church gate collections and fund raising. Today, with state funding the leadership doesn’t have to endure the endless drudgery of the chicken supper circuit like it once needed to. Having received €1.4m in state funding in 2020 alone, the leadership now has more reason to appeal to Official Ireland than it has to appeal to a quirky party grassroots with its own unreasonable demands.
This growing gap between the leadership and the party faithful is also seen in the style and substance of the annual Ard Fheis. What was once a grassroots convention to direct the policies of the party has instead become a sort of annual coronation for the party leadership – all carefully choreographed by an army of party advisers and PR spin doctors made possible by state funding.
There was a time when the annual Ard Fheis could be a testing affair for the leadership. The 1971 FF Ard Fheis comes to mind when Kevin Boland took on the party leadership from the floor. Today, the only reason to have party members there at all would appear to be for the photo opportunities provided by these same people enthusiastically applauding whatever policies the leadership have deemed worthy for the party. It’s also worth recalling Fianna Fáil’s 2017 Ard Fheis which overwhelmingly (5 to 1) passed a pro-life motion – that could hardly have been said to have subsequently directed the position of the party on the 8th referendum.
The problem for rank and file Fianna Fáil TDs and grassroots supporters is that they are now in a place where they are expected to support the policies of parties they are basically opposed to. This has clearly been demonstrated since 2020 with Fianna Fáil TDs implementing policies that the Green Party are insisting on as a condition for being in government. It’s worth remembering that in that year’s general election Fianna Fáil polled 22% to the Greens 7%! For the party leadership, it appears that that is a price worth paying for being in power.
Party founder Éamon de Valera was famous for looking into his own heart when formulating policy. Today, the leadership of Fianna Fáil is more likely to be looking to a motley assembly of paid advisers, spin doctors and PR men for policy direction.
Fianna Fáil is now more about marketing and spin than it is about policies and politics. This is summed up by the sense of political opportunism displayed by a party leadership increasingly removed from both its TDs and activist base. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that a sense of paralysis is what now characterises what was once an activist party.
Why should anyone vote for Fianna Fáil in 2023? Today, the party is more focused on marketing than it is on political activism and policies. In marketing-speak, Fianna Fáil’s value proposition now runs something like ‘vote Fianna Fáil to get other parties’ policies implemented’.
For the party leadership, that’s the price to be paid for being in power. The problem for the leadership, however, is that many voters may no longer be prepared to pay that same price and vote for a party which does not represent their views.