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13 March 2008 Edition

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A Cavan man's look back at the Ard Fheis

Dublin 4 – Time to go


BY MARTIN McGOVERN

I HAVE always hated the RDS for our Ard Fheis. Necessity drove us there and, I suspect, habit is keeping us there. The only humorous thing about the place in previous years was the evening time in Cullen’s bar when the Dublin 4 crowd were coming in and we were starting to leave: an uneasy co-existence. This year was better. Congratulations to Dublin Sinn Féin for getting a ballad session downstairs in Crowe’s bar. It’s about time we dragged the place down to our level. However, enough is enough, as the 80-year-old woman said when asked why she was divorcing her husband after 60 years of marriage. It is time to leave Dublin 4.
But where to go, that is the rub.
With one mighty bound we were free. The Castleblayney  cumann in County Cavan rode to the rescue and offered the services of their fair town for the Ard Fheis. The timing of their motion could not have been better. I remember when I was young (I was 66 last week, to give you a sense of time) in my home town of Belturbet, also in County Cavan, the mother would say to us: “Well, where do you want to go this year – back to Bundoran or would you rather go to Castleblayney?” As Goethe said: “See Naples and die.”
Might I humbly suggest Belturbet as an alternative to Castleblayney? It has all the necessary attributes. It is a great drinking town with lots of music in most of the bars and there are lots of bars to cater for all tastes. It has four restaurants and two chippers. The chippers are very cosmopolitan: one Italian and the other Chinese. For those of you of a more philosophical bent, you can walk along or take a boat on the River Erne. As regards accommodation, you will always get some sort of a billet. At the risk of teetering on a more serious note, it is perfectly obvious where next year’s Ard Fheis should be held – Belfast. If I have to explain why, you are clearly in the wrong party.

CÚIGE ULADH had a very good motion calling for a membership card for people in Sinn Féin. We are the only party where we are all ‘fellow travellers’. Yes, we know the logic: we are all members of the Republican Movement. The present structure is democratically a bit limiting and inclined to be bureaucratic. For example, to speak at an Ard Fheis you have to be delegated by your cumann, a full-timer or an elected representative. The rest of us republicans at the Ard Fheis are passive observers. We all know (those of us who have been in cumainn, at any rate), what often happens. It goes something like this...
“The motions for the Ard Fheis have to be in by next week, Head Office says.”
“Jaysus, that’s very short notice!”
“They say they sent out notice of this a month ago.”
Shuffle of papers.
“Oh, here it is. Sorry about that. Has anybody got any ideas for motions? We better put something in.” At this stage someone with a particular beef suggests a motion. I’ve done it myself. We all have our hobby horses.
The award for the most suspect motion has to go to Bantry: “This Ard Fheis calls on the party president, Gerry Adams, to visit the West Cork region in 2008, both to encourage the members in this region and to raise the party profile.”
Don’t go, Gerry! Don’t go!! Beware the Ides of March. Remember history. Besides, you are liable to bump into Julia Roberts down there.


An Phoblacht
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Dublin 1
Ireland