WHILE the wheels fell off the wagon for Fianna Fáil in the March General Election, party leader, Micheál Martin this week acknowledged they got things badly wrong in Clare at the local elections in June 2009.

Deputy Martin has admitted that not allowing Michael Begley from Clonlara and PJ Ryan from Sixmilebridge on the Fianna Fáil list for the Clare County Council elections two years ago cost them dearly.
Choosing to run as independents, both were elected comfortably and this was a factor in the shift in the balance of power on the 32-member local authority. Fianna Fáil lost its long-held status as the largest party on the council. With a loss of four seats, Fianna Fáil ended up with 11, compared with Fine Gael on 12; a gain of two. Independents gained two to reach seven, while the Greens and Labour retained one each.
Mr Begley, who previously held a seat as a Fianna Fáil member, was beaten narrowly in the 2004 election but was ruled out by the party for his comeback bid in the revised Killaloe area. In an election where two outgoing councillors were beaten, Mr Begley took the fourth seat in the area.
When Mr Ryan contested a seat for Fianna Fáil in 1991 and 2004, he missed out by a handful of votes on both occasions. He too failed to get party endorsement for his third attempt in the Shannon Electoral Area but mustered considerable support from around his strategically important Sixmilebridge base and reaped the rewards.
Also in 2009, Clare Fianna Fáil suffered the indignity of failing to win a single seat on Shannon Town Council, a long way from when they won five of the nine seats on the town’s first authority in March 1982. The story is only marginally better in Ennis, where the party now has just one member on the town council.
The local elections debacle in Clare didn’t unfold under Deputy Martin’s watch, of course. That was during Brian Cowen’s tenure as Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach.
For Deputy Martin, it’s now about rebuilding from grassroots level. He’s not altogether despondent about the party’s current status in the Banner County. He says the party has a reasonably strong base of county councillors but has earmarked Shannon and Ennis as areas where the party needs to significantly increase its presence on local authorities. The aim will be to improve the party profile in these areas and get new candidates.
Fianna Fáil is to dispense with the interview system for the next local elections, which was criticised by members countrywide in 2009. Deputy Martin has pledged the fundamental decisions to select candidates will be made by the local conventions. Candidates could still, however, be added to contest an election to address any geographical imbalance or other gender issues that may exist.
A revision of the cumann structure is also on the cards and a straightforward one-person, one-vote system. For the chop are cumainn that are only there for conventions or don’t really operate.
As part of his visit to Clare this week, Deputy Martin met local members of Ógra Fianna Fáil and discussed initiatives to strengthen the youth core of the party.
It will be a long uphill struggle for Deputy Martin but what will work in his favour is that, unlike his predecessor Brian Cowen, he does not have to carry a poison chalice overflowing with austerity measures. Given that Fianna Fáil has no presidential candidate in the field, one will have to wait two years before the public can pass judgement on Deputy Martin.

Buy Irish, grow jobs

AT a time when most people have little spare cash to save or invest, we hear good news this week that for a change in spending habits of less than 58 cents per day, jobs can start flowing in this country.
Around 6,200 new jobs could be created in the Irish economy if households spent an extra €4 a week on Guaranteed Irish labelled goods, according to new research. No additional expenditure need be incurred, of course. It’s all about Irish and local, as against imported food, products and services. It’s about being more clued in and identifying areas of regular spending where Irish food or products get pride of place in the shopping trolley.
The Guaranteed Irish organisation represents 300 companies producing 1,250 Irish products with an estimated turnover of €1.2 billion a year. Those companies employ around 23,700 employees.
A new study carried out by Amárach Research reveals, currently, we spend €16 a week on Guaranteed Irish products and services. By increasing this figure to €20 a week, we can facilitate the creation of 6,200 jobs.
Research was conducted into the country’s attitudes to buying goods and services with the Guaranteed Irish mark, with almost two-thirds of people who were surveyed saying buying such goods helps them feel they are supporting Ireland. One thousand people were surveyed, with 41% saying they buy Irish goods and services as often as they can.
The Amárach study also shows that 83% of Irish consumers believe it is more important today to buy Irish goods and services than it was five years ago. That’s based on people’s concerns over the decline in the economy.
Executive director of Guaranteed Irish, Tom Rae noted there are a wide range of products, and not just foodstuffs, where customers could support buying Irish. He has, however, identified a flaw in the identification of Irish products. Often they are not clearly marked because of own brand and company symbols on packaging.
The issue of products originating elsewhere but being packed in Ireland has also caused endless headaches for consumers, eight out of 10 of whom are regarded as being pro-active in trying to buy Irish.
A full list of Irish companies is to be published on the Guaranteed Irish website to help avoid misunderstandings of what is and isn’t Irish produce.
At a meeting with Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton on Monday, Mr Rae discussed the question of streamlining labelling.
Minister Bruton has indicated the Government is to give a lead by increasing the amount of business the State awards to Irish companies. At the Guaranteed Irish campaign launch, Mr Bruton confirmed that currently a higher proportion of public procurement in Ireland goes to overseas companies than in most EU countries. Public procurement was a source where better opportunities for small businesses could be developed, the minister suggested.
The message is quite simple; when you go to the corner shop, supermarket, hardware or electrical store, whenever possible take the Irish option. To take it a step further, whenever possible spend your money in County Clare in the hope that some of the predicted additional jobs will be created here.