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OFTEN dubbed 'a family at war', peace appeared to break out in Fine Gael this weekend at the party ard fheis. A theme of war and peace was certainly in the air at Citywest Hotel.
It is 140 years since Leo Tolstoy wrote the classic novel War and Peace about Russian society during the Napoleonic era. This weekend, it was Timmins instead of Tolstoy addressing the issue.
The party's foreign affairs spokesman, Billy Timmins, told the ard fheis that Ireland should abandon neutrality and play its part in European Union security and defence and assist in designing its future development.
"For many years Ireland has wrapped itself in the comfort blanket of neutrality," said Timmins, a former army officer. "It became a byword for ambiguity in our international relations policy. Ireland has never, in any event, been neutral in internationally-recognised terms, since Irish attitudes were identified by opposition to Britain. Fine Gael believes that Ireland can no longer operate in this political twilight zone and we must engage as willing participants in a European common defence."
It would be a complete exaggeration to say Fine Gael wants Ireland to go to war abroad. Others might say the party has had enough internal trouble in recent weeks.
The family that has largely been at peace under Enda Kenny's leadership suffered a brief blip a fortnight ago when TDs Lucinda Creighton and Ulick Burke had separate spats with Kenny at the same parliamentary party meeting. Both rows have been well documented as they sparked questions about Kenny's reign at the helm, but all seemed rosy again at the ard fheis. Party headquarters in Mount Street will have been delighted to see pictures of Kenny and Creighton embracing each other with large smiles on the main stage in newspapers and TV screens.
'Idle Talk' is the name of a horse that featured in the other big event of the weekend – the Aintree Grand National – and Fine Gael senator Nicky McFadden claimed any rumours about Kenny's leadership were just that.
"There is absolutely no question mark over Enda's leadership," McFadden said. "He has brought the party from the doldrums in winning back 20 Dáil seats, in leading Shane McEntee to win a by-election seat and we are now within 10 council seats of eclipsing Fianna Fáil in the local elections in June. We are historically ahead in the opinion polls for months now so Enda has consolidated the party and there is a unanimous feeling in the party that he will be the next taoiseach."
McFadden's comments echoed the general mood at the conference and there does not seem to be anything resembling a heave in the offing.
Answering a claim that he was "more chairman than chief" on radio over the weekend, Kenny answered, "If a valid test of leadership in politics is success in elections, in every election I have led the party into we have gained seats and votes. My ambition is to be the next taoiseach."
Unless Tuesday's emergency budget is a complete disaster for the government, there is no general election on the horizon. Yet Fine Gael was in campaign mode at the weekend ahead of the Dublin by-elections and the local and European elections in 64 days' time. It was no accident that Dublin Central by-election candidate, Senator Pascal Donohoe, was regularly on the main stage during debates on various motions and close to Kenny during photo opportunities.
Kenny told journalists that "Fine Gael is the party of ideas". Former GAA president and European election candidate Seán Kelly seems to embody that as an old London black taxi painted green with 'Vote Seán Kelly No 1' all over it was one of the attractions that raised most eyebrows over the weekend.
Shane coleman, page 17
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I fear Fine Gael is going to blow the chance Fianna Fail has handed them on a plate. As a voter who supported them in the past, and who voted for the PDs when they stood up to Charlie Haughey and before they became economic fundamentalists, I was a readymade Fine Gael voter for the next election.
I despise the Fianna Fail of Bertie Ahern and Charlie McCreevy; I despise its opportunism and lack of ethics and its “philosophy” of crony capitalism; I hold them responsible for their brutal mismanagement of the economy and the appalling havoc they have created in the lives hundreds of thousands of ordinary Irish people. Cowen may be intelligent but so far he has not done much with it. He sat on his hands and did nothing when the economic bubble was completely out of control. Smart-alec comments and bullying of opponents who may not be quite as sharp as he is or do not have his facility with words is a very unattractive trait even if it goes down well with his own tribe.
In spite of all the above I fear I may end up holding my nose and voting for Fianna Fail in the next election - especially if they dumped Cowen and replaced him by someone like Brian Lenihan. Even though I voted for Alex White of Labour in the last election I do not like the way they are playing politics with the current crisis. When Fine Gael spout out the cliché that that no country has ever taxed its way out of a recession I find myself driven towards Fianna Fail. Of course no country has taxed its way out of a recession. However, as well as having a recession we also have a disastrous budget deficit that must be addressed also. IT WILL NOT BE SOLVED WITHOUT RAISING TAXES – AS WELL AS CUTTING GOVERNMENT SPENDING. To imply otherwise is grossly irresponsible and is political opportunism.
Following the G20 meeting Gordon Brown stated that the old Washington Consensus was over. It included the notion that low marginal tax rates are required for economic growth. Fine Gael would do well to recognise that both profligate public spending AND an unbalanced taxation system got us into the current budgetary mess. Moderate increases in the rates of income tax will be required and if Fine Gael tries to pretend otherwise they do not deserve the support of the electorate – and they will not be able to outflank Labour if they try this approach.