PDs in secret talks to join Fianna Fáil

[BodyofEvidence]

Haughey is dead. His last cabinet minister is gone. Cowen is as clean as a whistle. Why wouldn't they come home?

One can only hope, but the run of FF taoisigh doesnt give one much hope....

[Universal_001]

I wonder how their newly elected leader, (don't know his name) feels about this. Like the song says "one day you're a hero - next day you're a clown", so I would imagine that he must feel fairly down unless he has been thrown a sizable carrott. Think of a brand new party.

Its the only answer. The basic infrastructure is there;just start again. It cannot be any more difficult than trying to revive the PDs with Noel Grealish and Mary Harney hanging like a couple of albatrosses around your neck.

Cairan Cannon has a most unusual opppurtunity to have a crack at some revolutionary politics over the next 3 years. He may never get elected again but he has a chance to "make a difference".
He is young, articulate and leader of a political party. Not a big party but, hey, you dont hear Comrade Joe Higgins complain too much.

Thats what they should have done when McDowell took over, or at the very least right after he left, the fact that you've absolutely NOTHING to loose should have been liberating, you could play the role of Higgins and the SP, only slightly larger and on the right, nobody expects you to get an overall majority but your also freed from moderating your policies to avoid spooking special intrest groups.

Some of the things Im gonna suggest I would't agree with, but it would be right up the PDs ally, they should have went nuts, put up all the policies they wanted to but knew would cost them electorally, at the very least it would force the main parties into a humiliating defense of the status quo.
Universal School Vouchers, Universal Private insurance, a negative income tax system or a flat tax (or combine both), abolition of the income tax totally (lets face it its the way things are going anyway why not cut to the chase?), massive civil service reform, privatization of the likes of the ESB and public transport (again going to happen anyway, why not ride the tide? thats what you did in the 80s riding the tide of the ReaganThatcher era then claimin credit for introducing policies that were inevitable, this could work again)