Soldiers of Destiny on the brink of civil war

Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

More unrest in Fianna Fáil. The latest turbulence relates to the leader’s unannounced visit to the city; and a possible poaching of the Soc Dem’s golden boy.

It is established protocol that the leader of the party has to alert the local TD whenever he (it’s always been a he) visits a constituency.

Alas, when Micheál Martin toured the city recently, to give a talk to Galway Chamber, he never mentioned it to Éamon Ó Cuív, the King of Connemara and head honcho in Galway West.

Martin didn’t bother mentioning it to City or County Councillors either, which has left a bad taste.

Worse still, the party faithful (the paranoid ones in particular) are concerned that Martin is planning to foist a candidate on the ticket at the next general election, which is likely to be next Spring, depending on whether FF can conjure up a reason to pull the plug on its ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement, which keeps the Blueshirts in Ministers’ Mercs.

Cllr Peter Keane is making shapes to join the ticket with Dev Óg, if he can outmanoeuvre John Connolly, who hasn’t ruled-out running again, having performed well last time out.

But the big fear locally is that Martin is hatching a side deal behind their backs with Social Democrats candidate Niall Ó Tuathail. What a coup that would be.

It sounds farfetched but remember Smiler Nialler’s Soc Dem colleague and former leader of the party, Stephen Donnelly, jumped ship and holds the FF health portfolio.

Martin and Donnelly are now like two peas in a pod and Ó Tuathail never tires of telling how it was he who masterminded his buddy Stephen’s electoral success in Wicklow. If MM does snare Nialler, expect civil war in FF in Galway West!

And that’s before you mention the resounding ‘Yes’ Referendum result here in Galway, where Martin led a party unwilling to follow on Repealing the Eighth Amendment. That makes Ó Tuathail, a prominent Together for Yes campaigner, an even more appealing poach.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.