The making of Fine Gael

In this pre-Ard Fheis survey of Fine Gael, Vincent Browne writes about the electoral challenge, the organisational changes and policy directions.

Fine Gael is about to become a political party.

For the first time in its 45-year history it is about to acquire a political organisation, it may also acquire a clear sense of political identity and it has already acquired one of the most remarkable political leaders of modern times.

But the party remains staunchly middle class with a strong conservative rural bias; its only hope of an early return to office remains in alliance with a party that is ideologically far removed from the interests it represents (at least that is the theory of it) and the memory of its recent history will not be easily obliterated, especially in the realms of civil liberrties, northern policy and political patronage.

The electoral challenge to the party is also formidable. In terms of percentage votes, the party is worse off now than at any time since 1957. The party is also obliged to rely on an alliance with Labour to get back into Government and though Frank Cluskey is clearly well disposed to another coalition, the mood of the Labour conference on the issue is unpredictable.

Fine Gael and Labour will have to win about 20 extra seats in the new Dail which will be of the unprecedented size of at least 162 seats, because of the population increase. On the basis of the 1977 returns - allowing for the percentage vote, plus a seats "bonus" for Fianna Fail, the coalition parties would win about 66 seats, as compared to their 60 seats in the present Dail. It will therefore have to gain 16 seats from Fianna Fail in the next election, that is the magnitude of the challenge.

Labour's contribution to this effort is likely not to be considerable, so the brunt of the challenge rests with Fine Gael and its main problem rests with its confined electoral base.

The recent confidential poll showed that Fine Gael continues to lose out among the unskilled and semi-skilled workers but more particularly among the young people. It was in this category that Fianna Fail made its biggest breakthrough in the June '77 election, winning an almost incredible 62% of the under 26 vote.

The predominant issues in the elecction, the poll revealed, were prices and taxation - not just farmers' tax but the whole range of taxation.

In addition to that poll, Fine Gael also conducted a survey of all party candidates and directors of elections on the reasons for defeat. Here again taxation and prices emerged as major issues, but unlike the MRBI poll, this survey revealed that security was also a significant factor in the defeat. People, including even Fine Gael candidates themselves, were dismayed by the "inhuman" face of security policy as represented by Liam Cosgrave and more particularly by Paddy Cooney. And there was also adverse reaction to statement on Northern policy by Conor Cruise O'Brien which appeared to commit the Government as a whole to an anti-unity line.

These latter issues emerged forceably during Garret FitzGerald's whirlwind tour of the 43 constituencies - a tour which established, largely for the first time, the organisational core of the party and infused morale into the demoralised rank and file.

While the usefulness of political organisations are difficult to determine, it remains true that Fine Gael lost a number of seats in the general election because of disorganisation, notably in North Kerry, East Mayo, Louth, and possibly Longford-Westmeath and North Tipperary.

The most startling organisational development within Fine Gael has been with the Youth Group. A similar body established in the mid sixties was disbanded by Gerry Sweetman but the new leadership has positively nurtured the young element, not unmindful undoubtedly of Fianna Fail's 62% share of the youth vote.

Unlike similar groups within Fianna Fail and Labour, the Fine Gael Youth Group will operate independently of the senior party, organise its own meetings and conferences and have access, as of right, on to the national executives and constituency executives.

The Ard Fheis is being transformed from the orgiastic idolatory of recent years to something of a genuine forum for debate within the party. Time for speeches from the floor is being trebled, by the division of the Ard Fheis into three working parties, and the number of motions for discussion is almost being doubled.

The national executive is also being changed to make it more representative of all sections within the party, including the youth group, the newly formed Council of Public Representatives, the trade union group etc. And to round off the organisational transformation, the party moves shortly to a new carpeted Georgian town house in Mount St., across the road from the smaller Fianna Fail headquarters.

To pay for all this the party needs £160,000 a year, but £80,000 capital to pay for its new headquarters - it expects to get about £50,000 for its old HQ in Hume St. The State grant to the party is £35,000 per year, the party financial officer, Col. Clancy, collects about £15,000 per year in private contributions and the remainder must come in affiliation and membership fees.

Perhaps surprisingly for a party led by FitzGerald, policy formulation has so far been relegated to a secondary priority. Only now are research groups getting under way and within a year various, though tentative, policy statements are expected.

However, unlike Fine Gael's practice of the late sixties, the more electorally appealing policies will be withheld until the election campaign, on the pragmatic grounds that if released beforehand, Fianna Fail would steal the more popular ones.

The implications of this decision are considerable: it is a recognition that there is no intrinsic divergence of policy between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, for if there were there would be no question of Fianna Fail stealing policies; and it establishes that the party objective is not primarily to see certain policies implemented but to get back to power, otherwise it wouldn't matter or it might actually be desirable if Fianna Fail stole the policies .