I second that emotion – The Julia Carney Column

WHERE DO Ard Fheis motions come from? Really.

I mean, in theory party members are now spending weeks discussing the issues on which they believe the party needs to form policy. They consult existing policy documents, they touch base with people in their communities affected by the issue, days are spent wrestling with commas and sub-clauses, arguments are carefully marshalled and the motion, the representation of the political thinking of a Sinn Féin cumann, is sent off to Parnell Square.

Except, in my day anyway, it never seemed to happen that way. Discussing motions was always something put back to the next cumann meeting as we complained about lagging sales of raffle tickets, conspired to get the An Phoblacht into the local newsagents and complained about the dictatorship of the Comhairle Ceantair officer board.

Eventually, some evening, the cumann secretary would remember the Ard Fheis motions needed to be put in that week and we’d lash something together with a bit of a biro, labouring over the right spellings.

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