Fianna Fail Ard Fheis, 2006
November 6th, 2006Technical difficulties prevented me from getting online during this weekend’s Fianna Fail Ard Fheis, which is unfortunate as I had hoped to post some updates from City West as things were proceeding.
The event is being covered widely in the press, both on- and off-line, so there is no need for me to go over those topics which have been widely covered already.
I spoke from the podium for the first time during this Ard Fheis. I had hoped to put forward a motion on E-Voting (as suggested by Colm) but was unable to do so. I did, however, get to speak during the televised section of the conference on the issue of Broadband provision.
The motion, which was put forward by the Sean Lemass Cumann here in Letterkenny, reads:
This Ard-Fheis, while acknowledging the significant progress made in broadband provision, calls on the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to take further action to ensure that broadband is available those areas where it may not be commercially viable.
I was not involved in drafting the motion, and was able to propose it as no member of the Sean Lemass Cumann was available on the day. So, I had no prepared speech and had about twenty minutes to figure out what I was going to say.
Below is my best attempt, from my notes, at repeating what I said from the podium:
I would like to move and speak to motion number two, acknowledging progress but calling on the minister to take further action to improve the provision of Broadband access across the country, including areas where it may not be commercially viable.
Access to Broadband communications is vital for this Island Nation. It is vital for business, for education and, increasingly, for access to public services.
One of the proudest, and most abitious achievements after the foundation of the state was the Rural Electrification programme. To ensure future economic growth, we must give the same level of importance to getting the world of modern communications to every town, every village and every hillside.
This is possible, and has been achieved. It has been achieved on this island, but only in the Six Counties.
I call on delegates to support this call, for action from the Minister and improved regulation, the primary area of current failure.
This is not just a national issue; parts of our capital city are unable to access any broadband service. This comes from a failure to act by the communications regulator.
I said a bit more on the day, but that’s all I have scribbled in my notes.
The motion was passed, unanimously I believe. I hope I didn’t over-state the achievements in the North; it is well documented that they haven’t really reached 100%, but they are far, far ahead of the south in broadband availability. I would have liked to have taken a harder line on the regulator’s failure to act (and, by extension, the Minister’s failure to act), but was already stretching the meaning of the motion with what I said. I haven’t yet seen how it came across on RTE.
As usual, there was a large Donegal contingent at the Ard Fheis. This included, for the first time, members of the now-disbanded Blaney organisation. I met Cllr Dessie Larkin, but I didn’t see Niall or Liam Blaney. I haven’t commented on this issue here before, but I have in our meetings of Fianna Fail.
This whole situation has been handled terribly, and shows no signs of getting any better. I have nothing to say against any of the Blaney organisation, as we have always worked well together on both a political and personal level, but there is a very real danger that this will descend into an absolute disaster at the next General Election. Nothing has happened in the last three months, and time is running out before the Spring.
Among the Media at this year’s Ard Fheis were representatives from Politics.ie. I also met with a number of people who have either started, or are considering blogging, including Meath East candidate Thomas Byrne. I believe we’ll see many more bloggers from the FF side of the divide in 2007, as people have definitely seen the benefits that can be gained from proper interaction online.
The 2007 General Election will most likely see massive developments in the way Irish people, and by extension Irish Media and Irish Political Parties, use the internet for communication, campaigning, and organising.
It was great to meet many of the FF members from across the Country that I haven’t seen since the last Ard Fheis. In particular, I was delighted to meet with FF members from Derry and Belfast, in particular Liam Bradley and Emmet Doyle from Derry and David McCann from Belfast. I have campaigned to see Fianna Fail organise fully in the North for some time now, and I truly believe we’ll see movement on this issue in the next 12 months as well.
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3 Responses to “Fianna Fail Ard Fheis, 2006”
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November 6th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Was brilliant to meet yourself Damien.
I hope to get you to belfast some time.
November 6th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
I hope we can meet at a Belfast Ard Fheis some day, David!
November 13th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
We had an informal get together of some Belfast and Cookstown FF members on Sat (11 Nov), in Belfast. Meeting again in two weeks time in Cookstown. Whatever about formal structures, we now at least, have a group of six counties FF members who are in contact with each other and starting to meet regularly. Watch this space!!!