Will FF ever rise again?

Fitzerb · 27-02-2011 6:47pm

First things first. Well done to Enda and FG. The best of luck to them on what will be a difficult task.
Regardless of the Nations current plight and the role FF played in us arriving at the current recession I doubt FF would have got re-elected into Government for a fourth term.
Their vote would have being down because people would be not want a party in power for 19 years, but what we don’t know is by how percentage points they would have being down.

In my view the vote collapsed for a number of reasons.

1.The errors made in the last three years with the banking policy.
2. How they managed the IMF bail out.
3. Some people would have wanted a change regardless of how well we were doing.
4. Taking the blame in full for the expenses scandals. (some of it justified)
5. The perception that all FF is corrupt, which is not the case.
6. Not managing the new world of social media
7. The change of leadership which was necessary did not allow enough time for the right election team to be put together and resulted in chaos within Head Office.
8. The timing of the election was insane. To run an election after taking money from peoples pay pack was daft

All the above said in the long run it might be a good thing. They will have to bring in new fresh young blood with no baggage who are media friendly. They also need to progress their plans to expand into N Ireland ASAP. They also need a strategy for Dublin to try and get some of it back.
Looking at the results (not in detail) but some seats were lost by small margins. Without have all the details it seems FG increased its overall vote by 10%. That is not great considering the fall of FF. The number of votes for SF in Dublin remained static with little or no transfers from the main parties. Labour still did not make the break through outside Leinster or Munster that they needed. So all is not lost for FF.

Anyway for the moment lets wish Enda the best of luck we all need our Country to get back on the road to success.

Hasschu · 27-02-2011 8:00pm

Yes FF will make a comeback whether we like it or not. The political centre in Ireland by European standards is slightly right of centre and has been for almost 80 years. FF was most adept at moving within that little band and has enjoyed the fruits of good positioning since independence. In most people's minds FF is the natural governing party and people are irritated with their behaviour over the past three years and have punished them for their sins. Now attention shifts to Enda who is a nice, reasonably intelligent, sober man but not the type to jump on the ramparts and invigorate the rabble. In a year or so you will hear mention of how Bertie and Brian had their good points and maybe FF made mistakes. The reasoning will go "but sure don't we all make mistakes". In the meantime the economy stumbles along with high unemployment and reduced benefits Enda is helpless because the circumstances are hopeless. At some point between 1.5 and 3 years in the pressure for an election will be intense. Now FG and labour if they become entwined with FG are a spent force. Now enter the FF ex altar boys, cleansed of their sins the white hope and shining star.

swampgas · 27-02-2011 9:08pm

I think the way a party leaves power has a major impact on how long they take to recover.

There are many people who lived in the UK during the Thatcher years (I was one of them) who wouldn't vote Tory even now if their life depended on it. I'm not saying that this is a valid view, just that it exists and is widely held.

I think FF might have imprinted themselves on the Irish psyche in a similar fashion - there may be a big chunk of the population who will forever associate FF with corruption, cronyism, and incompetence.

The FF brand is very badly damaged, it will take a long time before people dare to trust it again.

Will FF ever rise again?

Comments