Fianna Fail are to hold their annual lock-in where the Tax Payer will pick up the Bill for the annual Fianna Fail piss-up that last year seen former Fianna Failure leader Brian Cowen appear on national radio in a state of drunkeness. Fianna Failure members have been told to conduct themselves over the next two days, or at least until the media shutters come down and the residence bar shutters go up.
An examination of the social effects of the economic crisis is a core theme of Fianna Fáil’s annual strategy meeting, which starts today.
Representatives of the St Vincent de Paul and the New Beginning group that works with indebted homeowners are due to address the two-day gathering in a Tallaght hotel. The meeting will also hear from an addiction expert and the author of a column on being unemployed, published recently in The Irish Times .
Although observers have predicted Fianna Fáil may move to the left, a senior party source said the emphasis on social issues was not unusual. The source noted that a similar gather in 2004 was addressed by Fr Seán Healy of the Conference of Religious of Ireland.
Although the party had a short think-in at the summer, this gathering is the first conference since their catastrophic performance in February’s general election. The party now has just 19 TDs, 14 Senators and three MEPs and most are expected to attend.
Last year’s conference in Galway was attended by more than 100 parliamentary party members, including then taoiseach Brian Cowen, who gave an infamous interview to RTÉ's Morning Ireland which generated controversy both in Ireland and further afield.
Mr Cowen was forced to make a public apology after that interview in which he was accused of sounding drunk, a claim he denied.
