Presidential Election.

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As big and all as the Áras is, it would need to be extended to fit Bertie's ego into it.

A lot of FFers probably miss the good old days when FF was polling around 40% and was, by far, the largest party in the Dail. It has had to effectively merge with FG, its mortal enemy, to get into government. That wuold have been unthinkable under Ahern, Reynolds, Haughey, Lynch etc.

Despite Ahern wanting the endorsement of FF as its presidential candidate, there is a risk of Martin becoming another Jack Lynch. Lynch was more successful than Martin in electoral terms. Chambers may be Martin's chosen successor but like George Colley, he might be collateral damage in any leadership contest.

The FFers don't seem to be happy North Koreans enthralled by their dear leader. Ahern's presidential ambitions created a big problem for Martin. With McGuinness in the race, Martin had some cover in that he could claim that McGuinness was a very strong candidate. With her out of the race, it is open season and Humphreys is a Kamala Harris style candidate. The FF sharks have the scent of blood in the water and they hate to be subservient to FG. Gavin is not a good candidate and the fact that he only recently became a card-carrying FF member smacks of panic from the Martin regime. The coronation has gone pear-shaped. If Gavin doesn't win, he may not be the only FF casualty of the election.

He may have wanted to be the FF nominee as a kind of redemption. He approached FF management last December and never got a reply despite being promised one. Martin was also part of the Ahern and Cowen cabinets.

Unsurprisingly, following a car crash interview with Cuddihy, Joanna Donnelly withdraws from race

He was alright but managed to survive the FF desecration - there’s no way Martin could have put Bertie on the ticket- FF would lose massively in the next election- it would have been the equivalent of handing SF a loaded gun, no less a two fingers to the voting public.

I think Ahern could have achieved some good for the country as president but seen how he was operating these last few weeks, showed me he’s still coming across as a bit of a cunning individual but really, we’ve had that style of leadership before and it’s old hat now - it’s not his age I’d be concerned about- it’s his attitude

I think that Ahern was readmitted to the FF party.

I think that Martin has damaged FF. The "Stalinist rule" phrase is not complimentary. He's more a symptom than the illness. It used to be the major party in Irish politics but the candidate selection power was gradually concentated in FFHQ under Ahern and Cowen. This cut FF off from some of its grassroots connections. The breaking of the dual mandate (TD and councillor) in 2003 also reduced some of the clientelism that kept FF as the largest party for so long.

A leader more certain of his position would have left Ahern off on his quest to be the FF candidate and have had him defeated in the selection contest. Ahern's defeat in that contest may not have been certain so Martin did what he does best: he dithered. That might have worked had McGuinness remained the FG candidate. He could have presented McGuinness as being unbeatable. Things changed when McGuinness dropped out of the race. There was no strong FF candidate ready.