Shattering Garret

Mark Brennock examines the role and function of Young Fine Gael and profiles its Chairman, Chris O'Malley.

Chances of the field proving commercially sound are high according to some observers who point to the low costs of developing such a close-in field in shallow water.

While it will be some time before Atlantic Resources and its two partners, Gulf and Union Oil, evaluate the Irish find, current estimates place possible production in the range of 40,000 to 50,000 barrels a day. That is miniscule by international standards - the smallest well in the North Sea produces 100,000 barrels a day and the largest pumps 1.6 million every 24 hours.

What would 50,000 barrels of homegrown crude mean to the average Irish consumer?

Absolutely nothing unless you bought Atlantic Resources shares and held onto them like Don Sheridan.

"An oil discovery of this size will be of enormous benefit to the beleagured Irish economy but would not really mean much to the average Irish citizen," said Bart Collins, editor of London's Petroleum Times. "The oil companies involved would undoubtedly put pressure on the Government to maintain Irish oil prices at previous levels and to stay in line with other oil producing countries. Basically, the prices at the pump would stay the same."
In 1979 when Chris O'Malley was running for the presidency of UCD Students' Union he made his position on abortion clear: he was against abortion. 1979 was the beginning of a period when UCD students became perceptibly more conservative and there was concern that the Students' Union leadership might be soft on abortion. The smear campaign organised by one of O'Malley's supporters on the abortion issue was thus very effective. O'Malley did not initiate the smear nor did he take part in it.

Nor did it do him any harm. He won the election.

O'Malley decided that he wanted to become president of UCD Students' Union while still at school. However, his involvement in student politics in his first two years in college was peripheral. His announcement of his candidature appeared surprising, his election appeared effortless.

Within two years of joining Young Fine Gael in 1980 he was elected chairman. He had no stiff opposition.

It is not his choice that Young Fine Gael's opposition to the amendment has brought him to the fore. He wanted to move Young Fine Gael away from moral issues and to have an input into social and economic policy.

Like Declan Costello in the 1960s and Michael Keating in the 1970s, Chris O'Malley makes no secret of the fact that he is a social democrat. Like them in their day he wants Fine Gael to become a social democratic party. He sees Young Fine Gael as playing an important part in that change, and when it takes place, the right wingers, the Alice Glenns of this world, will leave. He feels that they should be given every encouragement.

The Alice Glenns see it differently.

Alice Glenn herself recently accused Young Fine Gael of being unaware of the party's history. Chris O'Malley has reason to find this amusing. He is a grandson of Kevin O'Higgins, Minister for Home Affairs in the first Cosgrave government. He is a grand-nephew of Tom O'Higgins, the president of the Blueshirts in the 1930s, and he is a cousin of the present Chief Justice, Tom O'Higgins.

The blue blood isn't confined to Fine Gael. His father is first cousin of Fianna Fail Senator Eoin Ryan, and he is a grand-nephew of Dr James Ryan, TD for Wexford from 1918 to 1965 and at various times Fianna Fail Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Agriculture and Finance. His grand-aunt married Sean T. O'Kelly. His mother is Una O'Higgins O'Malley, founder of the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation. So strong was the legacy of Civil War bitterness that members of both families boycotted his parents wedding.

Chris O'Malley also has a degree in history.

In the amendment campaign Young Fine Gael is providing a platform for Alan Dukes, Gemma Hussey, Nuala Fennell and Alan Shatter to speak against the amendment, while issuing press statements using words such as "conservative" and "reactionary forces" to condemn the likes of Alice Glenn and Oliver J. Flanagan. When asked at the press conference which launched the Young Fine Gael campaign if he thought that Young Fine Gael was out of line with the senior party he replied that they were only campaigning in favour of party policy. Put another way it is the senior party that is out of line with Young Fine Gael.

On Saturday evening February 12 Garret FitzGerald arrived at the Leisureland complex in Salthill to address the Young Fine Gael annual conference. As he sat in front of the speakers rostrum, speaker after speaker stood in front of him, castigated the party for supporting the amendment and pleaded with him to change his line on it. Delegates appealed to "the spirit of the constitutional crusade". The hall was filled to capacity, the only such occasion throughout the weekend. Among the delegates there was a sense that they were doing something important as they passed the most strongly worded of three anti-amendment motions by a convincing majority.

Garret FitzGerald got up to make his speech. He virtually ignored his prepared script which was to refer to the constitutional crusade. He said "my decision to set up Young Fine Gael has been totally vindicated by what has happened here today". He promised "to take the views that I have heard here into account" and then cut his speech short. Many delegates regarded the tone of his speech as patronising. They had expected more.

Several delegates refused to stand for the traditional standing ovation. Garret FitzGerald was no longer God. Young Fine Gael was prepared to take a stand without a lead from him. According to senior party sources he was "genuinely shattered" by his experience. On May 29 he met the Young Fine Gael National Executive. They informed him of their intention to campaign against the amendment and asked him to clarify the party's anti-amendment policy.
Chris O'Malley has no difficulty in clarifying Young Fine Gael's policies. Since his election as chairman he has met several government ministers to explain Young Fine Gael policy to them. He recently told one government minister that Young Fine Gael could oppose a piece of legislation that the minister was keen to introduce unless certain specific changes were first made in the particular area.

Senior party members don't expect Young Fine Gael to behave like this. From its foundation in 1978 Young Fine Gael has never carried any political weight within the party. It was founded as part of a strategy to make the party appear more attractive to
that ever growing section of the electorate, the 18-25 age group. In this it has been very successful.

Since 1979 Fine Gael's share of the vote in that age group has more than doubled from 19% to 40%. But Young Fine Gael was never intended to have any relevance to party policy. It was a gesture to "the young people", a social club for the. offspring of' senior party members with the odd disco and the occasional perk of a patronising speech and a handshake from Garret himself.

According to a former Young Fine Gael chairman, Roy Dooney, the most successful event of his year was the annual sports day.

The national profile of Young Fine Gael was virtually non-existent in the year prior to February 1983. This was due in large part to the cancellation of the 1982 conference due to the General Election campaign. In the same period Young Fine Gael's profile within the party rose considerably. According to Senator Sean O'Leary, Fine Gael's national director of elections in the three general elections between the last two conferences "Young Fine Gael formed 25-30% of the active door-knockers".

In Dublin South West their impact was most striking. Within three weeks Young Fine Gaelers from outside the constituency moved in to form an election machine for newcomer Michael O'Leary who duly ousted the sitting Fine Gael TD Larry McMahon. Chris O'Malley was in charge of that operation. The importance of Young Fine Gael to the party machine is now widely recognised. As a result Young Fine Gael now feel that they have a right to demand an input into party policy.

While Chris O'Malley says that neither he nor Young Fine Gael wanted this amendment to happen, there is no doubt that in a matter of months the campaign has enormously improved not only Young Fine Gael's morale but has also helped to secure Chris O'Malley's political future.