Fergus Finlay rekindles the fire in his belly. Sort of.

national | miscellaneous | other press Tuesday November 13, 2007 16:55 by Aragon

Might this signal a change of direction for Labour?

'Particiaptory democracy' is not something we have heard much of from Labour over the last decade or two. Interesting therefore that the term should fetch up in arch pragmatist and moderniser Fergus Finlay's Irish Examiner column today. The piece was a kind of starting shot for the Labour Party conference taking place this coming weekend.

Finlay gives the electorate a bollocking for voting Fianna Fail when they knew bloody well that they really ought not to and points to all the immediate and nasty consequences of bringing Bertie and his 'friends' back to horrify us for another five years. In a surprisingly leftie-ish clarion call, he argues for greater emphasis on addressing the needs of those who have not benefitted from the years of plenty. With an economic crash on the way its entirely possible that Labour have shrewdly calculated that a different hymn sheet might serve them better than bawling from Fianna Fail's has over the last 15 years or more. Have they burned their bridges? Does any true socialist feel anything other than disgust at the harlot like behaviour of Labour before corporate Ireland? If they are trying to kiss and make up, they have their work cut out for them.

Even allowing for the legitimacy of a having a change of heart (if that is really what is happening with Labour), it's still a bit much for Labour to be shaking its fist at the electorate when more than any party - by a long margin - it has done more to drive Irish politics into Fianna Fail dominated hegemony. In truth, if there are bollockings to be administered then it is Labour itself that deserves the biggest of them.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story....1.asp