Susan O’Keeffe: Not a lot done, more to do as Fianna Fáil seeks fresh image

The new internal reform committee has a difficult task to identify what is going wrong, change perceptions of the party and ultimately improve its performance in elections

‘Even in Cork, home to party leader Micheál Martin, TD numbers are low. And even Martin did not get in on the first count – with that honour being passed to Sinn Féin’s Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, born in 1989, the year Martin first became a TD.’ Picture: Rollingnews.ie

Political parties are permanently in flux; it’s just that some leaders are better at dealing with that ebb and flow than others. In the past few days, the British Labour Party has been throwing caution, and sense, to the winds at its annual conference. The blood of its deep divisions has been visible on Brighton’s beach, while its leader Sir Keir Starmer battles on, declaring the party is fit to govern – whenever that opportunity ...