The majority of Fianna Fáil members believe the party no longer has a clear identity.

A new internal report surveyed some 2,700 party members on its recent election performances and plans for the future.

It found that the majority of members are “unclear” on the party’s identity – and blame its recent election performances on the decision to prop up the Fine Gael Government from 2016 to 2020.

The party’s poor performance on social media and its stance in the Eighth Amendment referendum were also highlighted.

   

The report was drawn up by junior minister Seán Fleming and, on Newstalk Breakfast this morning, he said it shows a level of “openness and honesty” never seen before in Irish politics.

He said the report should begin a discussion about the direction of the party at all levels – not just its leadership.

“Yes, there are comments on the leadership and yes, there are comments on the front bench and how they contributed to the manifesto or lack thereof,” he said.

“Yes, there are issues with the policies produced by the party in the run-up to the election and yes, there needs to be major improvements.

“The issue of identity is a big issue that we have openly and honestly identified as a result of what our members said.”

Identity

He said the party will now spend the coming months clarifying its identity in relation to the country’s other political parties.

“What is important is we were honest and we said it,” he said. “You could say that about every other political party – what does it stand for now versus what it stood for ten years ago.

“I don’t think the Irish people fully know what some of the other parties actually stand for. They have a concept but there is more to it than that and we are now going to examine that and review our aims and ideals in the party - that will be done in the months ahead.

“There are timelines set for that, so these issues are common to all the parties, but we are the first to publicly acknowledge it.”

Leadership

He said today’s think-in will involve a “good robust debate” – but insisted it will not be about attacking Micheál Martin over his leadership.

“We want a good thorough debate on this,” he said. “It is not attacking anyone.”

“I am only going to play the game and the ball in front of me and I think the vast majority of members want to play the Fianna Fáil game not any individual.

“I am quite confident that there will be divergent views. I welcome that. I accept that some people will agree with some aspects of the report while others will have difficulty with it.

“I think everybody in the discussion today has to recognise this report is not produced by the leadership or by myself. I just summarised what our 2,700 members said."

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