Their party has been in power for nine years but Fianna Fáil backbenchers have never felt more powerless, writes Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent
It took Taoiseach Bertie Ahern just a few hours yesterday to head off the planned gathering of Fianna Fáil backbenchers at Leinster House next week.
The 16 deputies, who this week signed a letter inviting all backbenchers to a meeting outside normal party structures next Tuesday, were ready to e-mail the message to its recipients early yesterday afternoon.
Many of the 16 are frustrated by their inability to influence the Government they support in the Dáil, and the meeting was to consider setting up a new committee through which their voice could be heard.
Details of this initiative were revealed in this newspaper yesterday morning. Within hours Mr Ahern had publicly embraced the idea with great enthusiasm.
So tight was his embrace that those organising the meeting agreed to abandon it. Instead, a small group of them will meet Mr Ahern next week to discuss setting up the planned committee within the party's existing structures.
It was never a revolt, the signatories insisted. But it was certainly an expression of serious frustration at the role of backbencher.
If the Government fails to convince voters of its merits over the next 12 months, it is backbench TDs - particularly Fianna Fáil ones - who will pay the price in lost seats.
Yet those same backbenchers feel as powerless as voters do when it comes to influencing the Government, and the content of their party's next general election manifesto.
Most recently that powerlessness was felt in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision to strike down the law on sex offences against children.
Backbench TD Noel O'Flynn said yesterday that "a small bit of humility and concern at the early stages" would have calmed the public outcry.
Instead, backbenchers believe that the Government, and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell in particular, displayed a certainty about his position and a dismissive attitude towards those who differed from him that may yet lose them votes.
Over the past few years, and again yesterday, Fianna Fáil backbenchers painted a picture of Government decision-making which makes them feel as excluded from power as Opposition TDs.
Government decisions are made at secret Cabinet meetings. The negotiations that lead to those decisions are made at private meetings between Ministers. The Government, unions, employers, farm organisations and community and voluntary groups meet in private to negotiate social partnership deals which decide on taxation policy, pay rises and a range of other policy issues.
Commercial concerns with the aid of professional lobbyists are given access to Ministers to make their case for various policy changes.
The elected legislators, backbench TDs and Senators, are excluded from all these policy-making forums, and kept in the dark about their deliberations until decisions are made and announced.
There is a pretence at consultation. Several backbenchers yesterday described the weekly parliamentary party meetings as events for which they often don't know the agenda in advance, where they express the views reported to them by constituents, Ministers nod respectfully but continue on their chosen course paying scant regard to their views.
The party has a number of policy committees, but members feel they do not have a real input into Government policy.
The annual two day parliamentary party meeting, typically held at a scenic location to attract soft focused television coverage, amounts to a series of lectures from outsiders and Ministers, rather than a genuine democratic debate at which the party makes decisions.
And as for the ardfheis . . .
This problem is not unique to Fianna Fáil. Backbenchers from all parties who have been in government have complained about being excluded from having a real input, the only consolation being that they are slipped good news Government announcements before the Opposition get to hear of them, allowing them to announce them locally and claim some credit.
The proposed new Fianna Fáil committee to voice backbench concerns arises partly from this long-term problem. But it arises from short-term concerns too.
A general election is now a year away at most and recent opinion polls have shown Fianna Fáil on course to lose a significant number of seats.
Party TDs say they meet many constituents disillusioned with the Government because they say they are out of touch with public concerns and are arrogant.
In particular, the handling of the fallout from the recent Supreme Court decision striking down the law on sex offences against children led to widespread protests being made to Fianna Fáil TDs in their constituencies that they are out of touch.
So now they are seeking to influence policy in general, and the next Fianna Fáil general election manifesto in particular.
"Every lobbyist in town will be telling us what should be in our manifesto. Why shouldn't we?" asked one TD.
The official party response from the Taoiseach down yesterday was to welcome the development.
Mr Ahern invited the activists to his parlour next week for discussion on the matter.
Most TDs backing the move were at pains to insist that this was not a sign of dissent, and that any new committee would operate within the party's existing structures.
In the past backbenchers have expressed irritation at Government actions.
The biggest backbench fuss took place after Charlie McCreevy introduced tax individualisation, ending tax allowances for stay at home parents in single income households, in 1999.
Backbenchers were among those expressing outrage at the plan.
However, their willingness to go on the record was widely seen as being orchestrated by the party's head office.
The Government faced extreme pressure from trade unions and sections of the public to modify its plans, so the party seems to have decided to ensure its own backbenchers were seen to take the credit for the climbdown.
In 2000 backbenchers objected to the Hugh O'Flaherty nomination to the European Investment Bank, again after this became a controversy damaging to the party.
Last February a group of backbenchers met Noel Dempsey to express concern about the severity of the penalties to be imposed by courts on fishermen for relatively small breaches of fishery protection legislation.
However, with the Government convinced of the need to get tough on this issue, Mr Dempsey proceeded as planned.
A year ago party backbenchers were more successful when they supported publicans' objections to Mr McDowell's plans for cafe bar licences to serve alcohol. Some 43 backbenchers had signed up to an internal party motion objecting to licensing cafe bars.
Back in 2003 they were objecting to cuts in CE schemes, the Hanly reform plans for local hospitals (remember them?) and the Government's general "right-wing tone". They railed against the plan to reintroduce college fees by the then minister for education Mr Dempsey.
In late 2002 they were angry at the abolition of the first time house buyers grant. In 2000 they revolted against the abolition of the dual mandate which allowed Oireachtas members to sit on local authorities as well.
Almost all of these led to temporary "backbench revolts" which ended quickly. Plans for a big meeting next Tuesday have now been abandoned.
It remains to be seen whether the meeting offered by the Taoiseach will come up with some structure that ensures their voice can be taken seriously, and not fobbed off easily as in the past.