I knew the Party needed considerable modernising and looked to Mark Garrett to address these shortcomings. Mark was a former Chairperson of Labour Youth. He had supported my unsuccessful bid for the leadership in 2002, and subsequently we worked together on the Spring Commission that Pat Rabbitte set up to examine the constituencies. He was working with McKinsey Management Consultants in New York when I took over leadership and I asked him to come home to head up my team. Fortunately, Mark was up for the challenge. Brendan Halligan, who had performed a similar role in the 60s and 70s for Brendan Corish, suggested that this would be my most important appointment, and advised me to leave party business to Mark so that I could concentrate on national matters.
With a brief to open up the Party’s communication to as wide an audience as possible, Mark set about updating and professionalising Labour’s operations. Image and design were improved and standardised. All the Party’s new promotional videos were professionally produced and we started to make more use of social media to get our message out. Constituency events were transformed from traditional-style meetings in dreary union halls to receptions in local hotels to which a broader range of people was invited. Party conferences were enhanced through the use of design, presentation and floor management. The 2010 Party Conference in Galway was the first time all these new strands came together.
Party conferences are invariably stressful for political leaders. As well as the routine of work that has to be done – motions to be addressed, reports passed, officers and supportive executives elected, the Leader is under an intense spotlight and suddenly very directly accountable to everyone face to face. And then there’s the live television broadcast of the leader’s speech – the keynote event of the year for every political party.
I would generally, with Colm O'Reardon and Jean O'Mahony, begin to prepare for my speech about two weeks in advance of the conference. The content had to be carefully researched, politically sharp, engaging, inspiring and fresh. The delivery had to be a full-scale performance that satisfied all expectations. To satisfy the television producer, the length had to be spot on – with allowances made for audience reaction and possible off-the-cuff remarks, or you could find yourself being cut just at the key moment.
On Friday afternoon, 16 April 2010, I arrived at the magnificent Bailey/Allen Hall on the NUI Galway campus for the usual full run-through of the speech with the RTÉ crew. The podium and autocue were situated right in the middle of the hall and, unusually, there was a tiered bank of seating to the rear of the speaking position. Mark intended to position a crowd of mostly young members here to give a sense of the audience for the viewers at home. Directly facing me on the opposite wall was a large screen on which I could see myself as I delivered the speech. Speaking in such an unconventional setting and having a large crowd behind me was unsettling enough, but I was just not ready for the screen. ‘That screen has got to go, Mark,’ I declared. ‘It will distract me completely during the speech. I can’t watch myself on television and deliver a convincing message at the same time.’
‘Sorry, Eamon, no. The screen stays. It’s not meant for you. It’s there to give the people behind you something to look at during your speech so that they won’t be moving their heads about and distracting the people watching at home’. I was too impressed with the thoroughness of how every angle had been considered to object further. I’d just have to put up with the mirror effect of the screen and play my part as best I could. Happily, the event was a success.
The selection of candidates for the 2011 General Election would prove a bit more challenging for our team and was controversial for us in many locations. I had made it clear from early on that I wanted to contest every constituency, and to have more than one candidate in some. Unlike the situation with the local and European elections, there was no shortage of prospective candidates for the general election. Labour’s fortunes were on the rise and it was, in some respects, the jersey to wear at the time. I was approached by some high profile figures that were very keen to get on board. However, it soon became apparent that most had little interest in being TDs. They wanted to be ministers right away. One offered to run on condition that I assured him he would be Minister for Finance.
In constituencies where Labour was weak we did have to look outside the Party for candidates. In Roscommon-South Leitrim we selected Independent Councillor, John Kelly, from Ballaghadereen, and to support his candidacy we held the 2010 annual parliamentary party meeting in the Abbey Hotel in Roscommon town. Independent Councillor, Jimmy Harte, whose father Paddy had been a long-time Fine Gael TD for Donegal, came on board. The Harte family are greatly respected in Donegal, and I recall Pat Rabbitte returning from a constituency visit there enthused that the local media thought Jimmy would take a seat.
A young Independent candidate, barrister and farmer Michael McNamara, caught our eye during the 2009 European Elections. I met him in Ennis during the second Lisbon Referendum, and with the generous support of Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald, he overcame some local resistance to become our successful candidate in Clare. In Mayo, the local media speculated that Councillor Michael Kilcoyne, a trade union official and former member of the Labour Party, might re-join, and that if he did, he would win a seat for Labour. He probably would have, but it never happened, and I therefore asked former Independent TD, Dr Gerry Cowley, to stand for Labour. He joined us at the 2010 Conference in Galway.
Encouraged by Willie Penrose, we asked the former Progressive Democrat TD, Mae Sexton, whose family has deep roots in the local trade union movement, to stand in Longford. John Whelan, the former editor of the Leinster Leader, was recommended to us by some of his friends in the media. After some strong resistance in the local organisation, he was selected as our candidate for the five-seater Laois-Offaly constituency, resulting in unpleasant scenes at the selection convention in Portlaoise and several resignations from the Party.
The new candidate selection system gave the Party’s organisation committee the right to shortlist candidates, but ultimately the choice was made by the individual members at a constituency selection convention. Many of these conventions were very keenly contested.
In Wicklow, Liz McManus was retiring from the Dáil and she had hoped that her son Ronan, a councillor in Bray, would replace her. Instead, the convention selected Anne Ferris (Liz’s Dáil assistant) who went on to win a seat. She was joined on the Labour ticket by Councillor Conal Kavanagh (son of former Labour minister Liam), and with the Mayor of County Wicklow, Councillor Tom Fortune.
In Dublin South Central, Councillors Eric Byrne and Michael Conaghan (both of whom were elected) were selected along with Councillor Henry Upton (son of the late Deputy Pat Upton, and nephew of Deputy Mary Upton). I received several communications of protest from members who complained that three men had been selected over the very able Councillor Rebecca Moynihan. But that was the outcome of the vote at the selection convention. (I have no doubt that Rebecca will make it to the Dáil and be an outstanding TD).
The selection of Deputy Tommy Broughan and former Deputy Seán Kenny by the members in Dublin North Central caused disquiet among younger members of the Party, who had supported the cause of the young Councillor Cian O’Callaghan. In Dublin North West, Róisín Shortall resisted the candidacy of Councillor Andrew Montague (the man who was responsible for the Dublin Bike Scheme), and John Lyons was chosen. As it turned out, both Shortall and Lyons were elected in this three-seater. When Senator Ivana Bacik failed to win a nomination in her own constituency of Dublin South East (where Ruairí Quinn and Kevin Humphreys went on to win two seats), I invited her to stand as my running mate in Dun Laoghaire.
In Sligo-Leitrim, the contest for the nomination between European election candidate Susan O’Keeffe and Councillor Veronica Cawley ended in a draw. After hearing from both candidates, the National Executive called it in O’Keeffe’s favour. Cawley subsequently left the Party and stood as an Independent, as did two other former Labour representatives. The multiplicity of Labour and former Labour names on the ballot divided the vote and resulted in Sinn Féin taking the seat.
A number of strategic decisions were taken