1. Introduction

Fianna Fáil is a party which has deep roots within the Irish people and political system. A huge number of people can trace their political origin to Fianna Fáil whether through their own voting patterns, their parents’ voting patterns or other familial / historical connections. Many people are proud to be known as Fianna Fáil families, or would have been historically so. Until recent times it was common in canvassing to encounter significant numbers who would identify themselves at the door as Fianna Fáil people and this was obviously borne out by electoral results over many elections.

This can be also seen in the large number of politically active people, whether public representatives or local activists who now operate mainly as Independents or in some cases now within other parties (typically Labour, some PD), who originated in Fianna Fáil but left the party for various reasons.

The brand loyalty is further evidenced by the fact that despite many scandals a majority of supporters stayed firm to the Fianna Fáil flag right until almost the very end when only cataclysmic events could turn them away from the party. Whilst the detail of all these events can all debated it is submitted they acted as a crystallisation of an unease built up but kept submerged over many preceding years. If the party had been stronger on internal democracy and on clamping down on abuses in previous years it would likely have had a stronger bulwark to defend itself when national events unfolded unfavourably.

Notwithstanding these difficulties however, it is submitted that a very large swathe of the Irish electorate retain a strong affinity to the Fianna Fáil brand, ‘tribe’ even, and though they may have perhaps reluctantly stopped voted for the party in recent years, it should be possible to attract them back to the fold if the party takes strong and demonstrable actions in response to the current situation.

In every crisis there is opportunity and in Fianna Fáil’s crisis the opportunity now is to shrug off the decay and restore the former honour which will rally the traditional support base back to the flag and restore the party’s electoral fortunes.

This forms the central tenet of the suggested strategy. However it is further submitted that (almost as a bonus) the development and restoration of core values along with a clear policy agenda and a rehabilitated reputation will render the party attractive to a new generation of voters who are more fluid than before and will respond positively to a policy platform that matches their own interests.

The strategy in summary is:

1. Restore reputation via a demonstrable ‘renewal’ process
2. Rally traditional party supporters back to the flag
3. Develop a policy agenda to appeal to modern electorate
4. Implement organisational reforms across the party

The proposals follow a central strategy of restoring internal power to the party membership, re-establishing the connection to ‘ordinary’ people, consolidating and re-identifying with core values and restoring the great name the party had justly built up over decades of delivery for the Irish people.

Part 2 – Renewal of Fianna Fáil – SWOT Analysis