Editorial: Has Fianna Fáil HQ washed its hands of Mayo county town?

Fianna Fáil HQ has washed its hands of Castlebar and apathy is endemic within the party's county town membership.

That's the current position of a once-proud organisation which in the past produced national political figures in the calibre of Micheál Ó Moráin and Padraig Flynn.

It no longer has an urban-based elected representative, Councillor Blackie Gavin having long since departed the sinking ship, leaving long-serving Moorehall-based Councillor Al McDonnell bearing the flag in a sea of increasing uncertainty.

Why has there been no concerted effort to rejuvenate and regenerate the party in the aftermath of the 2024 general and local elections when Fianna Fáil support levels sank to alarming levels.

In the local elections of June 2024, Fianna Fáil registered 3,157 first preference votes out of a total valid poll of 15,016 in the Castlebar electoral area, enough to re-elect the aforementioned Mr. Gavin and Mr. McDonnell, but far from a vote of confidence in the party as a whole.

By November of 2024 the figure had fallen to 2,218 as the county town and surrounding area failed to endorse the candidacy of Lisa Chambers in sufficient numbers.

This represented a historic low-point for the organisation in Castlebar.

And it's a junction from which it has yet to recover.

In effect, little or nothing has happened since this time last year to try and focus minds on a recovery mode.

The impression has been allowed to go out that certain people may be interested in leading a renaissance, but this has not evolved into anything of substance.

So now we have a political entity that is being allowed to decay and deteriorate.

For a town that once had two Fianna Fáil cumainn, this is a sad and regrettable situation for those who still retain some level of pride in the party.

Fianna Fáil cannot expect to suddenly turn up a year or so before the next local and general elections and hope that everything will be okay, because it won't.

Without potential candidates being identified now and new structures built around them, then nothing is going to change.

All of this, of course, plays into the hands of others, particularly Fine Gael, which is very strong and organised in Castlebar.

And good luck to them.

But it also opens up opportunities for Sinn Féin and others on which to capitalise.

And they undoubtedly will.

In fact, the proverbial train may have already left FF standing on the platform red with embarrassment.