Dr. James McDaid

FIANNA Fáil will need at least five years in opposition if the party is to remain relevant on the national stage, Dr James McDaid has warned.
The Letterkenny GP, who was a Fianna Fáil TD in Donegal for more than twenty years, said that the whole party needs to look at itself – TDs, councillors, activists and support staff.
Last week’s poor showing in the Dublin Bay South by-election has fanned unrest among party members with some calling for Micheál Martin to step down as leader.
However, Dr McDaid believes it would be inappropriate to be calling for a vote of no confidence in Mr Martin right now.
“I would not read too much into the results of any one by-election. There was never a snowball’s chance in hell that a government party would win that seat. I heard Micheál Martin say earlier in the week that of thirty by-elections held since 1990 the government has now lost 27 – and one of the three wins was in Donegal in 1995.
“I don’ think that this is the time or place to be staging a coup but in broader terms we need to start looking at what the party offers the people at this stage.
“I honestly feel that there needs to be a root and branch restructuring. I’ve been saying for some time now that Fianna Fáil have got to accept that they need at least five years in opposition,” Dr McDaid said.
The former Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, who resigned in November 2010, believes there are more pressing issues facing the current government.
“If there was an election now Fianna Fáil would be annihilated under the current circumstances. It would not be good for the party.
“Charlie (McConalogue, Minister of Agriculture) is doing his best. He’s doing the job he was elected to do but unfortunately this government and the last one will be remembered for one thing – the pandemic – that’s all that people will remember.
“There’s difficult times to come over the next ten years. They have said that they won’t increase taxes and we’re already seeing inflation starting to rise,” he said.
Last October, Dr McDaid wrote a letter to the Taoiseach on his frustrations with vaccine information and lockdowns. He was one of a group of 15 Irish doctors who were calling on the Government to change its pandemic strategy to “co-existing” with Covid-19.
“I still have my reservations about the vaccine as, unfortunately, I feel that a lot of us were forced into it. Okay, they say there was a choice but at the end of the day they’re talking about vaccine passports. If Donegal got into the All-Ireland final for example you wouldn’t get into Croke Park unless you were vaccinated and had a vaccine passport” he said.
Dr McDaid and Mr Martin were cabinet colleagues between 1997 and 2002.
“I always found him to be an affable person, a man who knew his job and who always went about it in a professional manner. It’s been tough for him these past ten years. First there was the Troika and just when things were starting to get going we were hit with this pandemic. The last ten years have been very difficult for Fianna Fáil.
“There will be a boom of sorts when the vaccination starts working but there will be very difficult times ahead with inflation set to go through the roof, in my opinion, over the next ten years,” Dr McDaid said.
“I enjoyed my time in politics but I’m now glad to be on the outside looking in. I particularly feel for the younger people who have had to bear the brunt of the pandemic and only time will tell how they all come through this,” Dr McDaid said.