Tight discipline and party loyalty in Cowen's constituency may be a sign of things to come, writes Noel Whelan
BRIAN COWEN'S first press conference as leader-designate of Fianna Fáil was a crowded and noisy event. Joining the large media cohort was a considerable contingent of party supporters from Cowen's Laois-Offaly constituency. Among the midlands throng were two former Laois-Offaly Fianna Fáil TDs, Liam Hyland and Ger Connolly.
Watching them interact with Cowen, one was struck by the genuine affection between the three men. Absent was the animosity one usually associates with people who have fought several elections on the same party ticket. On the contrary, the two older men beamed with obvious pride at the achievement of their constituency colleague.
The Fianna Fáil machine in Laois-Offaly is a wonder to behold. The party has held three of the five seats there since 1977 when Cowen's father, Ber, Ger Connolly, also from Offaly, and Paddy Lalor secured them.
Lalor became a member of the European Parliament and was replaced by Liam Hyland in 1981. Brian Cowen won the byelection caused by the untimely death of his father in 1984 and he, Connolly and Hyland continued to hold the three seats until 1997, when Hyland (who replaced Lalor in the European Parliament) and Connolly retired from the Dáil.
Such is the strength of the Fianna Fáil constituency organisation in Laois-Offaly that with only one of the three outgoing deputies recontesting in 1997, the party still held three seats. John Moloney, Seán Fleming and Brian Cowen were then re-elected in 2002 and 2007.
Now that Cowen has succeeded to the top job, there's even a chance the party could win four seats in the next election.
This Fianna Fáil electoral achievement in Laois-Offaly has been accomplished notwithstanding national trends.
In 1992, the "Springtide" came to the constituency in the form of Pat Gallagher who won Labour's first seat there. He held it for just one term, but did so at Fine Gael's expense not Fianna Fáil's.
In 2002, the Progressive Democrats recruited former IFA president Tom Parlon who won a seat, but it was Fine Gael frontbencher Charlie Flanagan who lost out rather a Fianna Fáil deputy.
Laois-Offaly is Fianna Fáil's most successful constituency organisation because they continue to do things the traditional way.
Over the last three decades declining party activism, increasing urbanisation and competition has caused a dramatic shift in political campaigning in almost all other constituencies. Highly personalised political campaigning has become the norm, especially in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Bertie Ahern's organisation in Dublin Central epitomised this well-resourced, personalised political machine.
The Fianna Fáil organisation in Laois-Offaly bucked this trend however and still operates the original model designed and built by de Valera and Lemass in the 1930s. The cumann is still king and party branding is paramount.
The 2007 election campaign for Cowen, Fleming, Moloney and the second Offaly candidate, John Foley, was run almost entirely by the Fianna Fáil organisation.
One canvass card was used throughout the constituency picturing the four candidates in equal proportions. Only the Fianna Fáil poster featuring all four candidates was erected and no personalised advertisements appeared in local newspapers.
Financial arrangements for elections in Laois-Offaly also differ from most other constituencies. Local Fianna Fáil treasurers administer all election funds, collecting all the money and writing the cheques. While TDs obtain some donations to fund constituency offices, candidates do little personalised political fundraising and do none during the election period.
Instead, donors are sent to talk to the Comhairle Dáil. The party holds an annual golf classic but it is organised by the Comhairle Dáil and the money is applied to the combined party campaign.
The Fianna Fáil election campaign in Laois-Offaly cost less than elsewhere because it was staffed and managed almost entirely by cumann personnel, with the bulk of canvassing done by cumann members in accordance with strictly enforced geographical allocations.
In Offaly the electoral areas were divided equally for canvassing between Cowen and Foley. In Laois, Fleming and Moloney were given two local electoral areas each and the fifth area around Portlaoise was canvassed on behalf of both with canvassers also seeking third or fourth preferences for the Offaly candidates.
In 2007 Cowen's national profile, combined with the local expectation that he would soon be taoiseach, saw a massive surge in his vote to 19,102 first preferences. However, internal party discipline meant this did not undermine the party's capacity to win three seats and an impressive two-thirds of Cowen's surplus transferred straight to party colleagues.
It will be interesting to see now whether local Fianna Fáil organisations in other constituencies will move away from personalised campaigning and emulate the style and electoral success of their new leader.