Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil must learn to be foes again in Mayo

by Caoimhín Rowland

Undoubtedly, the election season has begun in earnest.

The non-binding move by Mayo councillors to shut up shop and pander to populism is not the only clear example of politicians sweating over June’s ballot.

Fianna Fáil Councillor Paul McNamara took to Midwest Radio to lambast Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon over his announcement of the Achill greenway.

McNamara is looking to air the grievances of islanders over fears a cycle route will carve through farming land and ancient forests without any prior consultation.

Worry presented afoot of a declaration by Deputy Dillon that the route was to go to tender, and Councillor McNamara presented himself to local radio and press to lambast the TD for apparently getting it wrong.

A Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael scrap as old as time itself; one would think the coalition would have made them bedfellows.

But in the annals of local democracy, months out from an election, it’s a reminder of no friends and only foes in politics.

Perhaps it is the fear Fine Gael is making inroads on McNamara’s turf that has him particularly vexed.

A former IFA man, Pat Chambers of Tiernaur, seems to be one of the strongest Blueshirt candidates to be selected in the county.

He will run in the Belmullet district alongside the veteran Gerry Coyle.

Belmullet boasts the highest turnout of any voting region in the county; 63.84% shows a tuned-in electorate. Achill, Tiernaur, and the Barony of Erris are up for grabs.

Coyle is sure to be a guarantee.

It would be audacious for Fine Gael to nab two out of three seats in the district, but groundwork by the hill farmer Chambers could prove pivotal in swinging Achill for Varadkar’s party.

Chambers has been involved heavily with the farming lobby, six years with the sheep committee and three with the hill committee.

Still an active farmer, Chambers manages 170 Mayo Blackface ewes and 30 suckler cows.

What is perhaps most worrying for Fianna Fáil is that Chambers, along with a delegation from Achill Island, met with the Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, over the cessation of payments for farmers on the island over burned land.

Their argument stated that blame should be directed at tourists, flocking to the picturesque setting of the Hollywood film Banshees of Inisheerin to camp out, sightsee, and ultimately light fires, resulting in burnt land and a very real-world consequence for day-to-day resident farmers.

The battle for Achill’s hearts and minds will be waged over land, whether it be burned or slated for a greenway. It will be a fascinating contest to watch play out over the coming months.

The Claremorris electoral area ultimately became the straw that broke the camel’s back for many councillors over their decision to cease negotiations with the Department of Integration.

Ballinrobe’s well-publicised but quickly forgotten protest, orchestrated by what a sitting councillor barbed ‘blow-ins’ he’d never seen help out in the town before and how he wished they’d ‘blow out’ again, captured the mood of the nation.

News shortly after of the historic Castlemacgarrett Estate, twinned with Leinster House and Ashford Castle, to house asylum seekers, a varying number depending on who you read, is whipping up fear online and saw Richard Finn and Tom Connolly break ranks from their previously held beliefs back in April.

The neighbouring town, Ballyhaunis, long held up as a beacon of integration, is set to welcome another Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael face-off.

Publican Stephen Nolan of Fianna Fáil aims to sit in the council chamber alongside Damian Ryan, while Alma Gallagher of Fine Gael, who challenged her party leader Leo Varadkar in the summer over the stalling of the town's primary care centre, aims to join two others of her colleagues in the district, Tom Connolly and Michael Burke.

The recent motion passed by councillors to stall the in-flow of asylum seekers to Mayo only realistically means one thing: whenever an IPAS centre plans to come to their locality, they have promised to picket and protest outside along with their neighbours.

A cynical ploy, you may say, but a necessary step for many incumbents who fear a sea-change swirling at June’s ballot box.

Political survival can bring out the worst in politicians.