FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has said the party must build itself up from “nothing”, as its founders did in 1926.
Mr Martin yesterday pledged as leader to renew the party and restore it to reflect the great tradition from which it stemmed.
In his first oration as party leader to the annual Fianna Fáil 1916 commemoration in Arbour Hill, Mr Martin recalled that when it was founded, the party did not do so in a position of strength or power.
He compared it to the party’s present position, where its Dáil representation was reduced to 20 seats, the lowest in its history.
“On 17th April, 1926, the men and women who would constitute Fianna Fáil were no more than a splinter group from a minority party. Our founders were great figures but they started our party with nothing. They built our party from the ground up and now we must do likewise.”
Five hundred party members, including former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and many former TDs, attended yesterday’s event at the commemoration site to the 1916 leaders at Arbour Hill.
Mr Martin said the task of rebuilding the party would not be easy.
“It will not be done overnight and it will take much work. We need the new enthusiasm, fresh thinking and vitality that young people bring to politics,” he said.
He pledged that where feasible, the party would put forward at least one candidate under the age of 30 in every local authority area at the next local elections in 2014.
During the course of the event, he described the recent murder of PSNI constable Ronan Kerr as a “direct assault on the peace process”.
He said those responsible who had “killed an Irish policeman in cold blood had clearly nothing but contempt for the Irish people”.
“The Irish people will not be dictated to by cowardly acts of terrorism . . . On behalf of Fianna Fáil I want to be crystal clear: the PSNI is a force for good on this island.”
After the speech, Mr Martin also emphasised his determination to have more women elected to the Seanad to bring more gender balance to its Oireachtas representation. There are no women among its 20 remaining TDs in the Dáil.
“One of the tasks of Mary Hanafin as vice-president of the party will be to establish a new national women’s forum to advance the cause of women within the party’s structures and to ensure significant representation, first of all on candidate lists in the local elections and then ultimately for the next general election.”
Asked about his party’s prospects for next week’s elections for the Seanad, he said Fianna Fáil could potentially win 12 seats.
“We have put forward certain candidates – Averil Power, Mary Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, Thomas Byrne and Daragh O’Brien – who are from Dublin and the commuter belt, or who are women.
“It [their election] would send out a strong message from the party”.
Mr Martin said he had with great reluctance taken the decision to favour some Seanad candidates over others, but said he had no difficulty with outgoing Senators standing. Some of them will not be contesting Dáil elections. Everyone was entitled to run, he said.
Mr Martin firmly emphasised during the course of the speech the party’s republican tradition and aims.
He said as a “proud Irish republican”, his aspiration remained to see a situation where the majority of people in Northern Ireland freely chose a united Ireland by peaceful means.
“Our work in the North is not done and will not be done until the great promise of unity and peace is delivered in full measure.”
Mr Martin’s predecessor as Fianna Fáil leader, former taoiseach Brian Cowen, did not attend. Among those who did were former ministers Dermot Ahern, Noel Dempsey, Pat Carey and former TDs Charlie O’Connor, Ned O’Keeffe, Seán Connick, Daragh O’Brien and Thomas Byrne.
