Madam, – Fine Gael wonders aloud why its leadership has failed to win the hearts and minds of a disillusioned population, and hopes that a new face and voice will bring it renewed popularity.
Certainly the choice of party leader is an important one, but it displays a shallowness and a blinkered adherence to the quick-fix political culture to believe that either the individual personality of the leader or the collective personality of its frontbench lies at the root of its failure to attract support.
It is time that Fine Gael woke up to the fact that the fall in popularity of the Fianna Fáil-Green Government is because of its austerity policy, not because of personalities, and there is nothing that would differentiate Fine Gael from the present Government in that regard.
The swing from Fianna Fáil is occurring in its urban working- class base, which is closer to Labour and other Left parties than to Fine Gael. The days of Civil War divisions between two similar centre-right parties is coming to an end. Fine Gael has no automatic entitlement to the lost Fianna Fáil vote. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – When you consider Fianna Fáil just last week had the worst opinion poll result in history of the party, the timing of this latest “family at war” episode in Fine Gael beggars belief. It would seem there are some within the party who are determined to repeat the mistakes of the past when they dumped the likes of Alan Dukes, and John Bruton, only to find nothing had really changed.
Is it not time for some soul- searching closer to home for those who seem so easily distracted from their own role within the party? I would respectfully suggest Enda Kenny is not the problem in Fine Gael any more than Richard Bruton is the solution. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Leadership heaves are never edifying, nor is the sight of a party leader clinging on to his position when he is, by any standards, well beyond his best-before-date.
It is time now for Fine Gael to say thank you to Enda Kenny for rebuilding the party: it is no mean achievement. But the time has come to move on.
Under Mr Kenny, Fine Gael has been presented as a regressive, conservative organisation, more at home in the 1950s than in the reality of today. This is a much graver political sin than his lack of charisma.
Those who, like myself, are liberals, are deeply uncomfortable in Mr Kenny’s Fine Gael which narrowly defines the nation, eerily echoing the words of the founder of the Christian Brothers, as a “Celtic and Christian people”. This, bizarre as it may seem, is one of Mr Kenny’s clearer statements.
If a new leader, such as Mr Bruton, is elected, Fine Gael may have a unique opportunity to rediscover its previous commitment to pluralism and an open-minded vision for Ireland. Such a party would have the potential to attract a much wider support base; it could become a party of “all the talents” and attract disaffected ex-Fine Gael supporters, rather than actively repelling them, as has been the case under Mr Kenny’s regime. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Doesn’t it say something about our insularity that Fine Gael can contrive to 1. Move a confidence vote on the Taoiseach and 2. Disband its own frontbench, on the very day the seminal report on Bloody Sunday is released. Seeing (and indeed, feeling) what the findings of the Saville inquiry meant to the people gathered at Derry’s Guildhall, the political theatrics in Dublin on the same day had the hallmark of self-indulgence and navel-gazing. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was somewhat surprised that Enda Kenny sacked Richard Bruton without going through the apparent procedure for sacking.
Is there not a “grievance and disciplinary procedure” in place? Perhaps there’s one law for the politicians and one for everyone else? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It appears that Richard Bruton is now in opposition to the opposition. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Now that elements in Fine Gael are intent on self-destruction because of their undue regard for popularity with the media and opinion pollsters, this could be a good time for Labour to establish itself in the west. After all, Mayo is the county of Michael Davitt, and Clann na Talún, in its time, was the preferred party of many smallholders.
Fine Gael, the party of big farmers and business owes its popularity in the west mainly to the notion of “anybody but Fianna Fáil”. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Gertrude Cotter’s belief in “common decency” may be admirable, but her contention that Enda Kenny has a “right to lead the party into the next election” is mistaken (June 16th). Mr Kenny has no such right. Any right he may have is wholly contingent on his commanding the confidence of the political party he currently leads.
Whether or not he commands that confidence is a legitimate question. It is high time that the members of his frontbench asked it.
“Common decency” is a criterion rewarding longevity, loyalty and an ability to be inoffensive – but these are no qualifications for high office. Surely “common sense” should prevail, where the best, the brightest and those most capable of making the tough decisions are the ones charged with the responsibilities of government. Haven’t we had enough of mediocrity? – Yours, etc,