The End of the Party?

Following this post on Fianna Fail, a Dublin correspondent cautions against underestimating the stubbornness of their hold upon the people:

Fianna Fail will rise again. For two reasons: i) Fine Gael and Labour may need the support of lots of other parties to get anything done. The scope for internal disagreement is immense. It is likely that they will lose popular support very quickly if they preside over savage cuts, which they will have to do; ii) For those of us old enough to remember, Fianna Fail acted like thugs in opposition. They opposed everything (including the Anglo-Irish Agreement) and whipped up popular hysteria against the government over the smallest issue. This will work again. They will be in government again within five years. You can bank on it.