Séamus Brennan's gift for intelligence-led campaigning kept him at the top, writes Noel Whelan.
TAKING THE Luas to Dundrum last Thursday evening for Séamus Brennan's removal, I was not surprised to see many political faces in the carriage. We remarked on the poignancy of choosing the Luas for this journey since Séamus himself officiated at the line's opening as minister for transport.
Séamus Brennan was first and foremost a political strategist par excellence. These skills brought him to national political prominence early, leading Jack Lynch, who was rebuilding Fianna Fáil after the 1973 election defeat, to appoint him as general secretary at 25.
A constitutional referendum in 1973 which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, combined with the baby boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, meant a large number of new voters came of age in the mid 1970s. In the 1977 election a staggering 25 per cent of the electorate was under 24 and voting in a general election for the first time. The choice of Brennan as general secretary proved inspired because it reflected a deliberate strategy to target new young voters and also because he proved particularly good at the job.
Brennan organised Fianna Fáil's first National Youth Conference in 1975 and established Ógra Fianna Fáil, shortly afterwards. He travelled to the United States to study the successful Jimmy Carter 1976 presidential campaign and adapted much of what he learned for the Irish environment and Fianna Fáil's exciting 1977 campaign.
Cumainn allocations of posters and canvass card were supplemented by T-shirts, cardboard hats and balloons bearing the slogan "Bring Back Jack". Brennan was the genius behind the party's campaign song Your Kind of Country, performed by Colm CT Wilkinson, which became a chart hit.
When he set about his own Dáil career in the early 1980s, he chose a particularly difficult constituency in Dublin South. Although national profile helps there, it is also the most volatile constituency in the country, but he held a safe seat for a quarter of a century, winning nine elections in all, topping the poll again in 2007.
Séamus Brennan believed in intelligence-led campaigning. He was an astute reader of constituency trends and one of the best early analysts of political polling. He also developed a comprehensive database of constituency concerns and individual contacts with constituents. This information was initially retained on thousands of hand-written index cards. By the time opponents began to appreciate and mimic Brennan's index card database, he had moved on to using rudimentary computers.
Even though his initial relationship with Charles Haughey as leader was rocky, Brennan's political acumen, the extent of his corporate memory of Fianna Fáil, and his talent for the media rendered him invaluable. By the end of Haughey's reign, Brennan was back within the Fianna Fáil leader's inner political circle and remained there under Albert Reynolds and Bertie Ahern.
He was an automatic choice for inclusion in any party constituency committee or election management team. He had particular skills in the area of marketing. It was one thing to have well-paid consultants advising on posters, literature or party political broadcasts, but it was a real advantage for Fianna Fáil to have a senior politician who was well-schooled in the art of marketing and had a strong instinct for what would work.
Brennan also championed the need for colour and fun in politics. Many a party meeting on candidate strategy, constituency polling or advertising spend would hear him say, "That's all well and good, lads and ladies, but where is the razzmatazz?" When the essentials were in place, Séamus always emphasised the need for touches like liveried Jeeps, properly lit backdrops and well-chosen campaign music.
On policy he championed big ideas and eye-catching initiatives not only because they would stand out from the clutter of political coverage but because they were important. This was a feature of his work as a minister and led to significant reforms, like air travel competition and the introduction of penalty points, happening on his watch. He had the diplomatic and political skills required to lead change in sensitive areas, such as welfare support for single parents.
I recently met a student researching the 1977 campaign and pointed out that the obvious person to talk to was Séamus Brennan but, knowing he was ill, suggested he would be unavailable for interview. The student told me, however, that he had sent an interview request to Brennan's office a few weeks earlier and received an e-mail from Séamus himself, saying he couldn't do an interview but adding "send me the 10 questions you absolutely need answered".
Thus began an extended e-mail exchange between the politician and the student. It was typical of Séamus Brennan's courtesy.