Fianna Fáil at the races

Fianna Fáil are at the races. At the Galway Races for the annual, elite
fund-raising circus, at the races in spin, with the Government claiming to have met most of its election commitments while breaking almost all key commitments, and at the races in the next election with pundits predicting Bertie Ahern will be Taoiseach again (see page 16).
Meanwhile the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources was refusing to answer questions about the Dublin Port Company initiative to sell off 34 acres of land, valued at close to €1 billion at Dublin port, to a consortium involving several prominent Fianna Fáil supporters. The Dublin Port Company is wholly owned by the Department and a conditional agreement has been entered into with the Anna Livia consortium to sell the hugely valuable land without a tendering process. The sale would require the agreement of the Minister, Noel Dempsey, whose Department is refusing to answer questions on the issue.

^^Michael O'Kelly slips into the FF tent at Ballybrit and hears the views of the staff as guests plough through the champagne

'They thought the place would be packed…but look at it, it's not exactly bursting, is it?" sighed one of the barmen working in the Fianna Fáil fundraising tent at the Galway races on Wednesday. Wednesday and Thursday were to be the two 'big' days of a week of lavish luncheons organised by veteran fundraiser Des Richardson, with builders and business people paying €380 for the privilege of dining with the Taoiseach and senior ministers. (Beef fillet in a wild mushroom sauce, since you ask, or baked darne of salmon with tarragon. A vegetarian option of pasta in sun-dried tomato and a red onion cream was also available, all "chased home" by a duo of desserts with strawberries with after dinner mints and coffee to bring up the field.)

Journalists are proscribed from attending what is billed as 'a private event' but Village still managed to spend a couple of hours in the tent last Wednesday. Attendance at the course was up but for the greater part of the afternoon, numbers inside the tent were lower than expected, even allowing for this year's expanded hospitality area. Household names were thin on the ground over most of the afternoon too, with just two faces under the canvass recognisable to the general public, MEPs Marian Harkin (Ind) and FF's Eoin Ryan.

The warm, overcast weather ensured a thirst that kept the barstaff busy, if not run off their feet. And whatever business was being conducted on behalf of the party was taking place on the margins of the event, not within the large cream and green coloured tent.

My contact in the catering trade cast a cold eye over a well-heeled milieu that contained more than its fair share of sartorial shocks and showy cleavages and complained that it wasn't like regular bar work, "I wouldn't mind like," he said, warming to his theme, "but my fingers are ruined opening them feckin' champagne bottles".

Dismissing complaints about this year's expanded fundraising operation as "begrudgery", Bertie told the press there was nothing elitist about the corporate tent and even claimed all walks of life were in attendance. But casual scrutiny of the drinks menu would imply otherwise. For the opening tipple on the drinks-list is a bottle of Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial NV, described as "an elegant rich buttery chardonnay with hints of toast" with "a smooth aftertaste". Something that might come in handy when dealing with the sharp aftertaste generated by the €90 price-tag. Add another €100 and you could be drinking Moët & Chandon 1999, with its "subtle, yet invigorating and distinguishing freshness".

If throwing €100 across the bar in front of your friends isn't subtle or distinguishing enough for you, look no farther than the Cuvee Dom Perignon Vintage 1996, a snip at €160. The Dom Pee is the final entry on the champagne list, but then comes a deft touch. For the final entry on the card offers Veuve du Vernay Brut, a sparkling wine that promises "appealing" (as opposed to "distinguishing") freshness, for only €50!

But 2005 was remarkable for the level of local opposition within Fianna Fáil to the "big" tent and probably responsible for the grumpy sideswipes Bertie aimed at Socialist TD Joe Higgins.

"The Fianna Fáil tent at the Galway races" is a phrase that has become shorthand for corporate lobbying for influence. It's the type of thing Higgins regularly goads Bertie with, but this year the Bertie-baiting was done by his own party.

With little or no regard for the party's proud boast of unity at all times, the Galway grassroots produced a report last month urging the Taoiseach to review the elitist nature of fundraising operations at Ballybrit. Galway members of Fianna Fáil complained about the exclusivity of the tent and launched their own rival event in the swanky Radisson Hotel for just €15 a head.

With the majority of FF councillors in Mayo lending their almost unanimous support to the Rossport Five, one could be forgiven for thinking the West is awake and pretty unhappy about things. Closer scrutiny however, reveals that it's just business as usual. Fianna Fáil councillors in Mayo were, like their counterparts in FG, broadly in support of the Shell gas pipeline. But once the five were imprisoned, they immediately lent them their support while Fine Gael dithered and split into two

Similarly, reports that the Fianna Fáil party in Galway have been appalled by the corporate influence exerted at Ballybrit are wide of the mark. The local party doesn't receive much, if anything, from the event. The only elitism they're truly concerned with, is the elitism of the divvy-up.

As afternoon turned into evening, things began to get messy. The tables of sleek, young tiger bullocks, bursting out of their pinstripe suits, began to take on a more belligerent air, as they shouted for service from where they sat.

A barmaid complained about their conduct and pointed to one table in particular. "That shower over there are ordering three bottles of the Vintage stuff at 480 a throw and they've never once said thank you, never mind given me a tip".

The clearout continued as security came over to politely ask the two men spotted drinking lager from plastic glasses to leave.

As the skies darkened with the promise of rain, the numbers clustering just inside the doors, waiting for the call to the heliport, began to grow. Those not waiting for the call continued lorrying into the champagne. One member of staff was not impressed. "The only ones left now are the rednecks ploughing into the pink champagne," she said.