People’s President

COMMENT

THE first thing that sprang to mind upon reading of Martin McGuinness’ announcement that he will contest the forthcoming presidential election on behalf of Sinn Féin was the late Princess Diana.

In one of his more saccharine sound bite moments, Tony Blair described her as “The People’s Princess”. Martin McGuinness has proclaimed that if elected he will be the “People’s President”. It is difficult to believe this coincidence would have slipped unnoticed past the ultra-astute Sinn Féin public-relations machine, so we must assume that they are deliberately piggy-backing on the royal’s memory or engaged in a form of ill-judged mockery.
The Sinn Féin decision to put McGuinness on the ballot paper has widened the race and will make it even more interesting viewing than it already promised to be. It has also exacerbated the deep divisions in the floundering Fianna Fáil party. That wounded beast has now begun to turn on itself, while opposing parties just sit back and watch the spectacle.
The frankly laughable infighting that reared its head last week with the posturing of Eamon Ó Cuív has further undermined both Micheál Martin’s leadership and whatever dwindling residual confidence the electorate had in the party as an entity. It is now plain to see that Fianna Fáil has become deranged by its electoral trouncing last time out. Its representatives see themselves as having been robbed of their power and they are desperately trying to assert some kind of control over themselves and their destiny by attacking their leader and further damaging the party as a whole. It is ugly to watch but quite fascinating at the same time. Micheál Martin has been mature in his approach to the decimation of the party and seems content to quietly rebuild in the shadows over an extended period of time. His reasonable and considered attitude is in sharp contrast to the positions of Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú and Eamon Ó Cuív who are still clearly driven by that sense of entitlement that has so long been associated with the Soldiers of Destiny.
These men and their ilk are so unable to grasp the level of antipathy the public holds for the party that they are determined to be told again by standing a candidate in the election. It seems that more egg on their face and that of the party is the only thing that will deliver the message that the brand is severely, if not mortally, wounded.
The McGuinness candidacy came too late to be considered in last weekend’s Millward Brown Landsdowne/Sunday Independent poll. Despite this fact, the figures were quite extraordinary. It showed the Fianna Fáil freefall has continued since the general election. It seems that even rebuilding quietly in the shadows is not far enough away from the main stage for the voting population when it comes to Fianna Fáil. The Presidential election could not have come at a worse time for the party as it has only served to highlight to the public just what a shambles now constitutes the once invincible political gang.
Just as the Titanic was said to be unsinkable and certain banks and institutions were thought too big to fail, so the belief within Fianna Fáil had been for so long that they would be a mainstay in Irish politics forever and a day. So convinced were they of their permanence, it seems they have fallen into believing their own PR and have come crashing to earth with staggering indignity.
With the lack of a Fianna Fáil candidate, the various political factions within the former faithful will be seeking a choice when the time comes to vote. Sinn Féin have clearly seen the opportunity to capitalise on this by standing such a high-profile candidate as McGuinness. The natural republicans within the ranks of Fianna Fáil (and there are many) will now be more likely to see McGuinness as a reasonable candidate. He has been extremely vocal in his pronouncements regarding his membership of the mainstream in the aftermath of the peace process. He is Sinn Féin royalty and the party’s decision to roll him out is an authoritative statement that it intends to woo disgruntled republicans who would formerly have voted Fianna Fáil. The party has done such a good job of rebranding itself in the days since the Good Friday Agreement that many now forget the links with violence that for so long defined it. This is especially true for young voters or those unfamiliar with or uninterested in, politics.
Dana, it seems, also spies potential in the Fianna Fáil fiasco. The party certainly has a very hard-line conservative wing who will find their ideal lady in Dana. The soft glowing, motherly smile coupled with a steely and staunch conservative Christian ideology and lightly seasoned with elements of Euro-scepticism will be enticing to a certain voter. She has come close in the past and cannot be overlooked in the new political landscape still forming in the country. It does serve as timely reminder that Fianna Fáil is not entirely powerless in her case, however, given that she is unlikely to get on the ballot paper because the party is not backing a candidate.
The cataclysm Fianna Fáil invited upon itself through venality, megalomania and self-delusion has repercussions for the entire political system. In the aftermath of a volcanic eruption molten lava and magma cool to form new rock and ultimately a new landscape. While the Presidential election is ultimately about choosing a figurehead with little or no actual powers, it is fascinating because it will show how the initial cooling of the liquid rock is starting to affect the lie of the political land.
Despite Martin McGuinness’ attempts to highjack the title, whoever is elected to be the next President of the nation will be the people’s president gaining their position as they will through a democratic vote. It will mark another turning point in the political life of the nation but will be only the first step on the road in a time of great change. What lies at the end of the trail is anyone’s guess at this stage but it will be a fascinating journey wherever it ends up taking us.