I’ve just found out that I’m featured on the front page of Daily Ireland today, as part of a follow up to their story yesterday about trouble within the SDLP. It is in connection to comments I have made in the past, and the ongoing campaign I have supported to see Fianna Fail organise as a party of a 32 county basis.
On this website, I try to focus on issues relating purely to Letterkenny as much as I can. In other places, for example on the Ogra Fianna Fail website, I have discussed in detail the benefits that Fianna Fail could receive, and the benefits it could bring to the political process both in the North and the South.
I am an ardent believer that it would benefit both Fianna Fail as a party, and the process in the North, for FF to become actively involved. There is a large constituency which has become disenfranchised with the SDLP, and doesn’t support the politics of Sinn Fein, that is being left without representation. I also believe FF has a lot to learn from getting back to being the “underdogs” in the political process. I am under no illusions- I know it would be a long, difficult fight for FF to gain popularity in the North, but I believe that would be extremely worthwhile for the party as an organisation.
These views are strongly supported within Fianna Fail, most notably within Ogra Fianna Fail. I’d also like to mention the contribution of the Eamon DeVelera cumann of Fianna Fail in Derry, organised by Louis Bradley, which has visited numerous Fianna Fail events and with whom I have met a number of times. I’d also like to acknowledge David McCann, who has shown great commitment to seeing FF organised in and around Belfast. I have spoken at an Ogra FF information evening in Queens University in Belfast (an event which was covered in the press here in Donegal) and I know from having attended the University of Ulster in Derry that there would be much support there for FF.
The bulk of the FF membership supports these ideals, as do many in power within the party. The reason for not organising in the North has been that the party did not want to destabilise the peace process by upsetting the delicate balance between the SDLP and SF. That balance is shifting, and the gap between the two parties is widening. I believe the time has come for definitive action from Fianna Fail on this issue.
I’ll post a link to the story here when it becomes available on the Daily Ireland website. If you have anything to say on it, you can leave a comment on this post.
Update:The article is now online at Daily Ireland’s website : Mayor calls on FF to organise in North
Update: Daily Ireland has a follow-up piece on the article above: FF Northern Committee not ‘moving issue forward’