In Kilkenny (home of the lead Fianna Fáil dissident, Bobby Aylward), a party activist, Seán D Rafter, has set up an online petition demanding Martin’s resignation. The language is suitably belligerent –“We have been betrayed by our leader...This is ordinary people taking Fianna Fáil back”. Rafter’s characterisation of Fianna Fáil as “not just another left-wing party” is intriguing. The point about Rafter is that he is not an economically anxious, rural Fianna Fáil activist with only Daisy the cow for some gender role-modelling. Whether that means half the Fianna Fáil party or half the electorate is not clear.

Source: The Irish Times January 24, 2018 04:52 UTC