Leaving the Civil War behind

They’ve been the most bitter of political rivals since the 1920s but Fine Gael’s director of elections in Clare, Edmond Jennings, believes Civil War politics is dying a death and the day of a new order in Irish politics is dawning.
“I think you are getting to the point where the difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, their origins and the Civil War is being eliminated by the younger people. That generation want to look forward rather than back and I believe you could see both parties in government in two elections’ time,” he suggested.
For the party’s political diehards, that may be unpalatable but Mr Jennings believes Irish politics is heading in that direction and there is a major realignment.
“The country is maturing as a democracy and the factors which dictated how people voted in past are dying away. People are becoming more interested in policies and values and as well as that they are starting to vote for parties they resonate with.
“I think that will create a right and a left, or some new order that isn’t there in Irish politics at the moment,” he maintained.
Given Fine Gael’s performance, both in Clare, where they secured favour with 42.3% of the electorate, winning two seats comfortably, and 76 seats in the 31st Dáil, party supporters would have been forgiven for dancing on the graves of their bitter political foes.
“There was an anger out there and I’d have to admit that it wasn’t unexpected that we did as well as we did. We have to look at it on the basis that the last time here in Clare we were lucky to get two seats. This time, we got those two seats very comprehensively.
“However, I don’t think we were ever going to get a large enough share of the overall vote to be challenging for the third seat, not that we ever expected to get three seats. It would have been a very exceptional outcome and a very fair wind if we did better than the two seats,” he said.
Mr Jennings batted away criticism of the party not fielding a fourth candidate to sweep up votes, particularly in North Clare.
“I don’t think it would have made any difference if we had run a fourth candidate. There wasn’t a third quota, I don’t think,” he responded.
The Tulla businessman likened Fianna Fáil’s collapse to the predicament Fine Gael encountered after the 2002 election.
“What has happened to Fianna Fáil we saw with Fine Gael to some degree in 2002. Perhaps it was more dramatic today. I suppose the challenge for Civil War parties now is to see if Fianna Fáil can resurrect and reinvented themselves like Fine Gael did in 2002 when Enda Kenny revitalised the party,” he remarked.
Mr Jennings appreciated how fickle the electorate can be and is well aware that Fine Gael in government will have to take unpopular decisions to clean up the economic mess they’ve inherited.
“The last Government was seen as disastrous because of poor decisions they took or the circumstances the found themselves in. In any case, they lost all public support, belief and trust.
“Fine Gael in government will have to make some hard calls because they have to clean up the mess. They will have to make decisions that won’t be popular and I don’t think they have a lot of latitude in relation to those decisions.
“There are a few deal breakers that they are going to have to negotiate with Europe in relation to the bank bailout, the interest rate we are paying on it and the timeframe we have to clear it. For this new government to be any way popular, they’ll need a result there and that will be difficult,” he acknowledged.