î Cu’v referendum broadside is a battle for the soul of the party

Hostilities between Galway West Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin were ratcheted up a gear this week as the internal ‘shadow boxing’ over which man represents the heart and soul of the rank and file members of the party rumbles on.

Ó Cuív’s latest shot across the bow of his party leader came this week when he declared Martin is “very Europhile” and has a “blinkered” view on Europe and the upcoming referendum that has put him at odds with the majority of grassroots members of the party.  

Ó Cuív, who was recently removed from the party’s frontbench and lost his deputy leadership because his stance on Europe was at odds with Martin’s, also confirmed he would be campaigning for a ‘No’ vote in the fiscal treaty referendum.

Ó Cuív proceeded to criticise the Corkman for advocating a ‘Yes’ vote in the treaty. “I think he’s very Europhile . . . I think he has a blinkered view that Europe can do nothing wrong,” he said.

He added he’d told Martin as much. “He knows my views,” he said. The grandson of Éamon de Valera, the founder of Fianna Fáil, Ó Cuív suggested that Martin’s pro-Europe stance on the fiscal treaty is at odds with the vast majority of the grassroots rank and file members of the party. “I would reckon at this stage that my views (on advocating a ‘No’ vote) are shared by a very, very large number of grassroots members (of Fianna Fáil) if not the majority of them. I’m not out of tune with the large number of Fianna Fáil people who share my views on this,” he said.

That’s code for Martin is ‘out of touch’. Damning indeed.

Ó Cuív’s resistance to the treaty has been well flagged: It’s the reason why he’s no longer deputy leader as his differences with Martin on the referendum were “irreconcilable”.

Many commentators say Ó Cuív’s stance has put him on another collision course with the party leader but the Connemara-based former Minister says he will not be removed from Fianna Fáil as a result of this.

He pointed out that Deputy Billy Kelleher advocated a stance that was at odds with the party leadership in the Dáil inquiries referendum last Autumn; and Senator Mary White voted against the party in the Seanad regarding the criminalisation of people who pay for sex.

Neither Kelleher or White have been expelled from the party, and Ó Cuív indicated he would take legal action on equality and fairness grounds if moves were made to expel him for his treaty stance.

Fianna Fáil knows it, too. It doesn’t want to risk forcing Ó Cuív to go down the legal route to resist expulsion; and nor does it wish to alienate the large proportion of Fianna Fáil voters, particularly rural voters angry with sceptic tank and household chares, who actually agree with him.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.