One former Taoiseach is praised, another is ignored

In death, Jack Lynch is, once again, a Fianna Fail hero. Airbrushed out of memory during the time Mr Charles Haughey led the party, he is back centre-stage.

Ironically, 20 years after succeeding Mr Lynch as Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader, it is Mr Haughey who is now a non-person within the party. This was clearly evident at the Ogra conference in Longford during the weekend. The names of Eamon de Valera, Sean Lemass and Albert Reynolds, whose political base is Longford, were spoken of in glowing terms. But Mr Haughey was only referred to indirectly, when the Taoiseach, and party leader, Mr Ahern, made it clear the he would deal with the implications of the Moriarty tribunal report.

"There is no doubt that revelations from tribunals have had a considerably negative impact on the public perception of politicians," said Mr Ahern. "It is a great paradox that at a time when politics is in fact achieving so much, in the economy, in the peace process, trust in politicians is at a very low ebb. I sense a mood of great disappointment and anger within our party at the revelations."

As Taoiseach, he added, he could not prejudge the conclusions of the Moriarty and Flood tribunals with regard to the conduct of particular individuals, or any defence which they might yet put forward.

And to loud applause, he added: "Much of what has emerged in evidence, and has yet to be refuted, presents an unedifying spectacle. At the time of the McCracken report, I said I was deeply unhappy at the revelations and that they had damaged the body politic.

"We have all learnt important and painful lessons about standards that need to be upheld and dangers to be avoided. Fianna Fail as a party of Government has a particular responsibility to ensure that public confidence in politics is restored.

"Strong action will be taken, if necessary, by the party, as well as by the Government, at the conclusion of the tribunals to deal with any outstanding issues from the past that still remain to be addressed."

The Taoiseach reminded delegates that when Mr Lynch left office in 1979, some of them were not yet born. "You will, however, have seen in the live broadcast of his funeral, the fondness and respect in which he was held by people who knew he had served them with integrity.

"When Jack Lynch first entered public life, the first generation of our leaders were still in their prime. It was in their company that he was moulded. He always lived up to their standards."

Mr Ahern also recalled it was under Mr Lynch's leadership that, as a rank and file party worker, he became the first chairman of Ogra in 1975. Two years later, he was elected to the Dail.

The mood at the conference was celebratory and upbeat. It was positively light-hearted at times, not least when journalists John Waters, of The Irish Times, and John Ryan, of VIP magazine, had a good-natured debate on the demise of the Irish begrudger.

But the mood was decidedly sombre when an hour was set aside for a workshop on suicide among the young. "I suppose it is an unusual topic for a political conference, but it is a very necessary one, given the frightening rate of youth suicide," said the Ogra chairman, Cork TD, Mr Michael Moynihan. Members of the support group, Aware, spoke of how they coped with depression, which if untreated can, for some, lead to suicidal tendencies.

To frequent applause, Mr Ahern defended the Budget and spoke of the economic progress made by the State. Although a quintessential Dub, he has little time for the nostalgia about other days. "Sometimes people say romantically that things are not like they used to be. In my end of the country - the heart of Dublin city - nobody likes the song The Rare Oul' Times. It sounds like a nice song, but it is not, if you are from a tradition where there was one bathroom for 18 rat-infested flats, where there was only cold water, no facilities. In that instance, the song does not have the same ring."