Micheál Martin: Fianna Fáil has more to offer than simplistic and divisive right-left politics

An important part of being a big political party is to accept that people will often write things you don’t like or agree with. In contrast to another party, we in Fianna Fáil do not run to the courts looking to shut down those who challenge us or question our past.

In the normal course of events, the lengthy opinion piece concerning Fianna Fáil in last Saturday’s Irish Times is one we would simply shrug our shoulders about. However, the dismissive and superficial nature of this prominently placed contribution deserves a response.

The author subsequently announced to his Twitter followers that it was a lifetime ambition of his to compare our party to a quasi-fascist South American movement of the last century, so we can be forgiven for not accepting that this piece was an attempt at a balanced or reflective assessment.

It is one of the great failings of modern public debate, and a cause of its increasingly aggressive tone, that so few people acknowledge the good faith and opinions of others. This article is a perfect example of this utter disinterest in trying to understand or even engage with those who you criticise.

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If the author had wanted to genuinely ask what Fianna Fáil sees as its contribution in the past and its role in the future of Irish politics, he could have consulted any of the many articles or speeches published by us on this. He could also have taken a moment to look at the detailed statement of objectives adopted by the party following input from its thousands of members throughout the country.

Fianna Fáil is a progressive republican party which rejects the failed and destructive idea that you must conform to the traditional left/right ideology.

We are proud of the fact that not only did we introduce the first democratic Constitution in the world,adopted in a free referendum, we did so at a time when much of the world was falling to extremists of the right and left. Ireland’s democracy as a result was strengthened.

The radical programme of our founders has evolved to reflect the challenges of modern Ireland. At its heart are core principles which have been the foundation of our country’s move from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to one which has many challenges but has nonetheless achieved remarkable progress.

[ Fianna Fáil Árdfheis: New party objectives include defending democracy and climate action ]

Firstly, we are a party which believes that social and economic progress have to go hand in hand.

Our policies of opening Ireland to international trade and creating a pro-enterprise environment has been at the core of huge job creation. But equally, this has been used to support the expansion of State services and social support.

Measures to secure inward investment or promote new industries have been central to our work – and so too has been our commitment to using the resources generated by this activity to significantly increase pensions and expand new health services.

This balanced approach has never satisfied the ideologues of the left and the right – they always seek the clarity of having a group to define themselves against. But this approach has undeniably delivered more sustained progress for Ireland than any other policy could have done.

A second pillar of our programme is that we believe that investing in the education and skills of the Irish people is central to us being able to shape our future.

The fact is that every big expansion in educational access and achievement was initiated by Fianna Fáil in government. In terms of special education, primary-school supports, free second level, and the creation of new third-level institutions up to advanced research, we are the only party to have consistently prioritised education, training, and research.

You can see this up to today, where in the next school year class sizes will fall, supports will increase and universal free primary-school textbooks will be introduced.

And we are also unequivocal in our support for Ireland’s place in a stronger and more effective European Union.

We are the party which set membership of the EU as a core objective for Ireland. We negotiated it and we secured ratification in the first-ever membership referendum in Europe.

This was not inevitable, and there were many loud voices here who argued that Europe would destroy Ireland and turn it into an almost militarised wasteland.

Our party’s leadership in securing the Belfast Agreement and persuading groups to move away from armed conflict was critical. So too today is the Shared Island initiative, exploring the facts of social, economic and cultural links across the Border

And we continue to not just actively promote Ireland’s role in Europe, but also to support a Europe which is capable of taking more effective action on critical areas such as public health and supporting countries and regions at critical times.

We all saw the benefit of this during the pandemic when Ireland was able to secure fair and fast access to vaccines, which would have been impossible otherwise.

And, as we are seeing more and more, many other parties and individuals remain at their core Eurosceptics – often claiming to support membership but opposing everything the European Union ever tries to do.

And we remain a republican party which believes in the unity of the people of our island. Unlike others, who focus on giving speeches and issuing demands, we believe that lasting peace and reconciliation demands the much harder work of showing respect and building connections.

Our party’s leadership in securing the Belfast Agreement and persuading groups to move away from armed conflict was critical. So too today is the Shared Island initiative, the first time in 100 years that large effort and funding is going toward a programme of exploring the facts of social, economic and cultural links across the Border, and addressing the deep damage caused by division and conflict.

Ours is a practical and progressive programme which will never pass the purity test of those who seek clear divisions and debates driven only by ideologies or critical theories.

One of the clearest dividing lines in Irish politics today is between those who want to tackle problems and those who simply want to exploit them. The destructive populism of those who imply that Ireland is little more than a failed State is lazy and falls apart under proper examination.

The progressive and balanced policies which we represent has far more to offer than the simplistic and divisive politics of a traditional left/right divide.

Micheál Martin TD is Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, and leader of Fianna Fáil