Is there an identity crisis in Fine Gael?

Is Fine Gael having an identity crisis as the party prepares to gather for its ardfheis in Cork this weekend?

As Jack Horgan-Jones reports, Fine Gael’s executive council has shot down a grassroots motion calling for the party to affirm its centre-right status at its upcoming ardfheis.

The motion had support from several constituency organisations and branches, and generated significant discussion in recent days after it was publicised last week.

Supporters of the motion had labelled it an effort to distinguish the party from the “woke left” and reposition Fine Gael away from the “progressive centre” position it currently describes itself as occupying.

It is understood Fine Gael’s executive council is of the view that the motion should not be included for debate at the party’s ardfheis. Sources suggested that this was despite Tánaiste Simon Harris favouring discussion of the grassroots motion.

There is said to have been resistance to the motion at the executive council, amid concerns it could overshadow the report of the party’s Commission for Renewal, which is set to be a main discussion point at the ardfheis.

Political Editor Pat Leahy reported earlier this week that the commission found many people “do not have a clear idea” of what Fine Gael is about, what it has achieved and what it stands for.

Its report recommends that Fine Gael offers “a clear and shared understanding of why it exists, what it seeks to achieve, the Ireland it wants to help create and the principles that should guide its choices and actions”.

On our Opinion Pages today, Gerard Howlin argues Fine Gael has forgotten its purpose, that it does not need ‘renewal’ but rather it needs an identity.

Democratic midterm victory being assessed on this side of the Atlantic

The blue wave has washed over the United States but what does it leave in its wake for Europe and Ireland?

“Buckle up because this could get bumpy”, writes Europe Correspondent Jack Power, who says the bloody nose American voters delivered to US president Donald Trump may provoke a volatile response from the White House abroad.

Senior officials in the European Commission have been privately cautioning colleagues for weeks that big Republican losses in the midterms, while clipping Trump’s room to manoeuvre domestically in Washington, could leave the US president bruised and angling for a fight elsewhere.

Meanwhile, as Harry McGee reports, a large number of academics and diplomats believe the Democratic Party’s victory will have a significant impact on Ireland.

Among them is former Irish ambassador to Washington Dan Mulhall, who says there is a view that Ireland has done quite well in its dealings with Trump as “we haven’t been a target for Donald Trump as other countries have been”.

He said one change that will benefit Irish-US relations is the elevation of two strong friends of Ireland to influential positions on House of Representatives committees.

Richard Neal is to become chairman of the Ways and Means Committee while Brendan Boyle is set to chair the House Budget committee.

John Deasy, a former Fine Gael TD and Irish Government envoy to Congress, says the Democratic victory makes it more likely a Republican will be elected president in 2028, and he cautions that good relations need to be maintained with both sides.

Our Washington Correspondent Keith Duggan has today’s lead story suggesting the lights have begun to go out on Trump’s volatile and frequently terrifying reign.

Best Reads

The absence of a national security strategy leaves the State at “high” risk of mounting an “incoherent” defence of its sovereignty and territory in the event of an attack, according to the Defence Forces. Conor Gallagher reports.

RTÉ is going to seek at least another €780 million once its current funding arrangement with the Government ends after next year. Jack Horgan-Jones has the story from director general Kevin Bakhurst’s appearance at the Oireachtas media committee.

Meanwhile, the committee heard that RTÉ’s sports department was “not happy” with the appointment of broadcaster Ger Gilroy to host a new podcast due to comments he previously made about the station.

Political Editor Pat Leahy reports that plans for a possible united Ireland will include an examination of how symbols and cultural policies need to be changed to ensure “legitimacy and inclusiveness” on the island, according to an internal Fianna Fáil document.

‘Mariah Carey has made fools of us all’: Patrick Freyne on this year’s Christmas ads.

Playbook

There is an informal meeting of European Tourism ministers in Mullingar today as part of Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’Brien is due to take Parliamentary Questions from 8.47am.

Norma Foley, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality is next up in the Dáil at 10.23am.

Leaders’ Questions is at noon.

There is an opportunity for TDs to raise Topical Issues from 1.12pm.

Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless is to take questions in the Dáil at 2.52pm.

Proposed legislation from the Labour Party aimed at amending the law on the recording, distribution or publication of intimate images to extend its provisions to images that are generated or modified by computer-graphics will be debated at 4.28pm.

There is no business scheduled in the Seanad.

The Committee on Further and Higher Education will look at apprenticeship exam integrity and hear from Quality and Qualifications Ireland and Solas at 9.30am.

The National Women’s Council of Ireland, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and One Family will be at the Committee on Children and Equality to discuss gender equality, family rights and expanding inclusion policies for families at 9.30am.

The Committee on Justice will launch a report on its pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Legacy of the Troubles Bill 2026 at 9.30am.

The Public Accounts Committee will examine the Comptroller and Auditor General’s special report on the provision of school transport from 10.30am. Officials from the departments of education and transport will be in attendance along with representatives of Bus Éireann.

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris is due before the Finance Committee as it continues to consider this year’s Finance Bill bringing in various Budget measures from 10.30am.

Traveller apprenticeships and employment is the topic for the Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community at 12.45pm.

The Committee on Public Petitions will discuss various petitions including one to make Irish language education available to people with intellectual disabilities at a separate level at 1pm.

The Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy will be discussing the regulation and enforcement of solid fuels at 3.30pm.

Men’s mental health is the topic for a meeting of the Committee on Health at 3.30pm.

The full Dáil and Committee schedules can be found here.