Fianna Fáil crisis in Mayo deepens and deepens
ALL IRELAND WHINGER - By Caoimhín Rowland
FIANNA Fáil is in the throes of a crisis in county Mayo.
A protracted war with a long-serving councillor and a missed opportunity for a senior ministerial position for Dara Calleary - albeit a super junior role at the cabinet table - puts the party at jeopardy ahead of a general election. Mayo will be a five-seat constituency come the next GE ballot, anything other than returning two deputies will be a major blow to the organisation.
Fine Gael will aim for three, if not a miraculous repeat of their 2011 day out and get four over the line. But the Soldiers of Destiny have struggled since entering a confidence and supply arrangement with Fine Gael while their current coalition with the old enemy seeks to sully the brand of the party in the eyes of the public.
Sean Fleming, the Laois-Offaly TD, conducted a report on their identity crisis on behalf of the party in 2021. It was a post-covid era, Michéal Martin was set to be rotated out of office as Taoiseach and many anticipated a leadership tussle to liven up the party.
No challenger emerged and issues surrounding attracting younger voters and women into the party has persisted.
It seems Fleming’s report, conducted with the help of Ireland Thinks pollster Kevin Cunningham and then DIT academic, revealed one of the central issues was the problem in recruiting young women to join the party.
Fianna Fáil is clearly struggling on that level. They possess the worst gender balance of all major parties in Dáil Eireann, just 13% of their elected TD’s are female.
In 2021, Senator Lisa Chambers spoke about the need for the party to think long-term of a way to get more women involved in politics.
In the general election a 40% gender quota imposed on major political parties.
Locally, Sinn Féin ran five women of their nine candidates in the local elections, all unsuccessfully but they were still blooded and exposed to the cut and thrust of campaigning.
Fine Gael emerged with the only new woman on the council, Alma Gallagher, while unsuccessful candidates Keira Keogh in Westport and Antoinette Peyton polled strongly and have age and enthusiasm on their side.
Chambers, who failed to make it over the line in the European Parliament election in the midlands north west constituency but outperformed expectations. remarked: “We have lots of fantastic councillors to choose from, but what is clear is we need to take action now.
"We can’t wait until six months before an election. We have to work now to meet those targets.”
Fresh blood is a struggle for Fianna Fáil in Mayo and it could prove fatal for the long-term chances of the party coming into an election when they will need to stamp out clearly their identity as somewhat different to Fine Gael, particularly in this Blueshirt stronghold.
An independent Blackie Gavin will be looking towards the general election with renewed interest and it's remarkable to think just a few weeks after the local elections we’re experiencing previews for 2029, but that is what is needed to be done by FF higher-ups.
There is now a vacuum there and Fine Gael will have eyes on more returns, making Fianna Fáil a minority party in the minds of Mayo voters.
At national level, Jack Chambers' anointing as deputy leader of the party and plum gig in the Department of Finance was seen as reward for a job well done as the party’s director of local elections.
A job well done?
It was worst return in the history of Fianna Fail at local level, a worse share of the vote than 2009, an election which local Councillor Al McDonnell called “the worst he ever experienced.”
On a week when Mayo have crashed out of the GAA championship, the usual outside detractors label our county’s tradition for celebrating failure.
Perhaps Michéal Martin could be described as doing likewise by appointing Chambers on the back of the local election results.