Barry Andrews MEP Address to Fianna Fáil's 82ú Ard Fheis

Delegates, we are about to join combat in some of the most important elections in the history of our State.

 

And we are all in politics for different reasons.

 

For my part, my family is steeped in the history of this State and this great Party.

 

My grandfather was part of the independence struggle and the development of semi-state bodies that delivered jobs and opportunity for thousands of families - in energy, natural resources and transport.  Areas that count.

 

My grandmother, Mary Andrews, spent a year in Kilmainham Jail because of her activities with Cumann na mBan.

 

They were founder members of Fianna Fail in 1926.

 

My father, David, was one of the four signatories of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 alongside Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair and Mo Mowlam.  

 

I am delighted to say that my father and mother are here this evening. And they have promised me a high preference in the forthcoming European elections.

 

Inspired by their collective achievements, it is fair to say that my path to politics was smoother than most.

 

Last week, I canvassed with local election candidate Liz Watson in Irishtown, and I asked her why she agreed to run for election for Fianna Fáil.

 

She said that she was the first person in her family to go to college. And that wouldn’t have happened without Fianna Fáil.

 

No matter what route you take, politics is about passion and vision.

 

The vision to know that we can, and will, leave our legacy for future generations in the policy areas that count. And the passion to follow through.

 

The world has changed profoundly since the heady days of 1926.  

 

But when Fianna Fáil entered government in 2020, we opted for three government departments that had the potential to be the most reforming and transformative, despite the obvious challenges.

 

Health, Housing and Education are the holy grail of sustainable public service delivery.  

 

That’s what we mean by Back to Basics.

 

Fianna Fáil can point to an unrivalled history of delivering affordable homes, to buy or to rent, and providing access to social housing where it is needed.

 

In four years, Darragh O’Brien has managed to do what the previous two Governments combined couldn’t.  

 

Deliver 100,000 new homes.

 

And for every one of those homes there is a family, a couple or an individual setting down their roots and planning for their future.

 

We know not everyone is feeling the progress - not yet.

 

Opposition Parties don’t have a monopoly on empathy for the people out there who are struggling.

 

We all see it throughout the work we do.

 

But after more than a decade of undersupply, the tide is turning, and Fianna Fáil in Government has got Ireland back building.

 

The First Home Scheme, Affordable Cost Rental, Local Authority Affordable Purchase, the Vacant and Derelict Property Grant, an enhanced Help-to-Buy, an expanded Local Authority Home Loan…

 

Every one of these initiatives is putting affordability back at the heart of our housing sector. Lead by Fianna Fáil.

 

And let’s not forget that these are initiatives the opposition want to scrap.

 

Fianna Fáil is giving people something to vote for. The Opposition are only offering something to vote against.

 

In Health, under Stephen Donnelly, we have abolished key health charges and brought in free GP care for half a million people.

 

We are reducing waiting lists.

 

The public only consultant’s contract is in place, with huge uptake across all specialities, putting public health first.

 

In Education, Norma Foley has delivered free school books to all primary school children.

 

Almost 1,000 school building investments have been completed or are underway.

 

We are reforming the Leaving Cert.  

 

We are providing new special schools - to give the best possible start for children with additional needs.

 

Whether it is the 1920s or the 2020s, Fianna Fáil delivers on the areas that count.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, over the last few weeks and months, I have been all over Dublin - the actual capital, despite what Billy Kelleher might have you believe! - and I have seen first-hand the work being done by our councillors.

 

As our TDs and Ministers deliver nationally, our councillors are working day in and day out to deliver locally, for their communities.

 

And tonight, I would like to pay special tribute to one of them, who is stepping down from local government after an incredible career …

 

My friend, and Tallaght Legend, Cllr Charlie O’Connor.

 

In Europe, Billy and I have spent the last four and a half years working to ensure that the EU delivers for the island of Ireland.

 

We face into a critical European election.  

 

Together with Billy, Cynthia, Barry, Lisa and Niall we have a good story to tell; we have a proud Fianna Fáil record to share; a deep, resolute commitment to ensure that Ireland remains at the heart of the democratic EU that we helped to build.

 

In this election, the stakes for a democratic Europe couldn’t be higher.

 

Threats to democracy are growing from ideological extremism of the left and the right – within and beyond the EU.

 

Unfortunately, the festering sore of Brexit cannot be fixed by a mere change of government across the water.

 

Our neighbours in the UK are going it alone.

 

Just ask British farmers and British exporters how well that is going.

 

Will the US also lurch to the right in the Presidential election later this year? And undermine the international organisations that have allowed Ireland to grow and prosper, putting up barriers to trade with Trump’s fantasy economics.

 

Will the growth of the far-right in Germany, France and Italy continue? And how will that change the forward march of the European project?

 

And, of course, Ireland is not immune.

 

Sinn Féin say that they’re not Eurosceptic.

 

Even though they have campaigned against every EU referendum since 1973.

 

And if they do win seats in the European elections - they will sit in the European Parliament with the far Left group, on the fringe of European politics, with those who are consumed by an anti-Western, anti-Europe agenda.

 

Why would Ireland, a country with the most support for EU membership, elect so many MEPs to a Eurosceptic alliance of communists and anti-vaxxers?

 

There is every chance that by the time this speech is over, Sinn Féin may have yet again changed their policy on Europe. It’s hard to keep track of their positions on referendums, on hate speech, on migration, on defence.

 

It’s all each way bets, running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.

 

And while they say they are against partition on the island, they happily partition their policies between North and South.

 

Take property tax. In the Republic they want to abolish it. In the North they increase it.

 

Hospital Waiting Lists. In the Republic they condemn them. In the North they increase them.

 

The Pension Age. In the Republic they say 65. In the North they vote for 66.

 

Look, the Irish people are not going to fall for this ‘whatever you’re having yourself’ style politics.

 

And then there’s Putin’s Puppets.

 

If they all get elected, half of Ireland’s MEPs will be in the extremist, anti-EU far Left group.

 

To my dying breath I will defend the right of every elected politician and citizen to express their political opinions.

 

But our campaign will remind Irish voters that throwing away seats to the far Left - to extremists, to people who make the same arguments as the Kremlin – is dangerous.

 

It will be our campaign to show that Fianna Fáil is the party that has consistently driven a positive European agenda.

 

It will be our campaign to convince and persuade that Fianna Fáil has the candidates that truly reflect Ireland’s ambitions for a prosperous, secure and democratic EU.

 

And that throwing away seats to the far Left is profoundly not in our national interest.

 

If elected, our MEP candidates will increase Irish influence in the Parliament, not damage our reputation in the eyes of the world.

 

We have delivered the best financial services industry in Europe.

 

We have made Dublin the tech capital of the European Union.

 

We have helped deliver €64 billion in supports for our farming community and programmes like Peace Plus, the Leader fund, the Brexit Adjustment Fund and trade agreements opening markets for our exports.

 

Let’s not waste crucial MEP seats on the rag-week politics and the inflexible ideology of the extreme left.

 

Delegates, informed by this party’s unambiguous support for the essential unity of this island, I have dedicated much of my work to building relationships with our friends north of the border.

 

I established the Belfast-Brussels roundtable which has met three times in Brussels with Northern Ireland MLAs.

 

We are joined this evening by some of those MLAs and Councillors. I want to assure them that the Fianna Fáil team elected to the European Parliament in June will continue to do everything in our power to deepen these relationships.

 

Friends, as you all know the last six months have seen a predictable and catastrophic collapse of Gaza following years of siege and illegal settlements.

 

The horrific events of October 7th will never be justified.

 

But what followed will forever rank as one of the most punitive and disproportionate military attacks, of the modern era, by a sovereign state.

 

Tonight, we can be especially proud of our Leader, Micheál Martin, for the bravery and leadership he has shown in standing up for the people of Gaza.

 

Because of his leadership, Ireland is wielding genuine power and influence on the global stage by almost singlehandedly shifting the debate on Gaza in Europe.

 

This week, Ireland made history by committing to formally recognizing the state of Palestine.

 

It has become abundantly clear that a radically different approach is needed to secure peace in the Middle East

 

To bring justice to all victims and to give suffering Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank the least they deserve.

 

And that is Hope.

 

It was Hope that got the Irish people through our own occupation.

 

It was Hope that made peace in Northern Ireland possible.

 

It is our duty, as Irish people, to make the case for Hope in today’s world.

 

There is no doubt that were it not for Fianna Fáil’s vocal opposition to Israel’s actions from the outset, we would have no hope of ever achieving a more humane position …. let alone actually bringing an end to this war.

 

Delegates, it’s our good fortune to have as our Leader, someone who puts in the hard and the unheralded work.

 

A Leader who during the long years in opposition went out and reconnected and rebuilt our party.

 

A Leader who is driven by social concerns and not by social media.

 

A Leader who is in government to make the changes required - not to just make up the numbers.

 

A Leader of resilience, strength and vision.

 

Others may burn out, he stays the course.

 

We all remember the day he became Taoiseach in 2020 in the early days of the pandemic.

 

We know how he led us through the most difficult and challenging of times.

 

And unlike the leaders of some opposition parties in the pandemic, he led by example.

 

And there were no political rallies under cover of funerals!

 

He served an excellent term as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022.

 

But we know that was only his first term.

 

To borrow a phrase. He has a lot done. There’s more to do!

 

And I can think of no-one better to do it.

 

Delegates, please welcome our leader, Úachtarain Fhianna Fáil, Micheál Martin.