An Ród atá Romhainn
The General Election result that was inflicted upon Fianna Fáil was awful but expected. We deserved it. Simple!
We went away from our core values of looking after the ordinary man on the street and being linked to vested interests. We became stagnant as an organisation, lost sight of what we stood for and became arrogant in how we dealt with people.
We have, I believe, been given an opportunity that could have been lost if we had returned with 40 seats or more. We can and must reform ourselves from the ground up. The Fianna Fáil organisation has been strong in the past, not because of who ultimately led us but because of the people in every townland and parish who worked hard for the candidates at elections.
These people are the reason why Fianna Fáil was a great national movement in the past and why I firmly believe that Fianna Fáil will be again in the future. So it’s vitally important that the Fianna Fáil that emerges from the ashes of General Election 2011 recognises the important role that members and supporters of Fianna Fáil play.
They must be listened to, their ideas included in policy formation and their support garnered by those who wish to lead us. As a member myself, I would gladly pay a membership fee in the order of €50 a year if I know that I can have a say in who leads my party, what my party stands for and who represents us at elections.
The road before Fianna Fáil will be tough and the challenges great but by sticking to the core principles that our new Leader set out in Navan the Sunday before the election and reinvigorating the membership of Fianna Fail, we will and can be great.
My name is Donnacha Maguire and I am still a proud member of Fianna Fáil.
