On Monday Fianna F�il senators and TDs gathered in Westport, Co. Mayo for their annual “think-in.” One suspects that such events are designed as much to send out signals about the party’s intellectual credentials (“You know, we’re not just cute hoors who skull pints in the FF tent at the Galway Races”) as they are to inject some new ideas into our government’s hive-mind. And, on closer inspection, the speakers organised for the two-day event seem unlikely to create any new paradigms in Irish politics. Curiously, the lineup include RTE sports anchor Tom McGurk. As stand-in RTE radio presenter during the summer months, McGurk is perhaps best known to non-rugby supporters as the coiner of the least original catch-phrase in the history of broadcasting–“Good morning, good morning.” Also featured is Bank of Ireland’s Dan McLoughlin, an economist so relentlessly upbeat he makes Pollyanna seem like Schopenhauer. Then there’s Conor Brady, “emeritus” editor of The Irish Times, who managed to secure for himself an extravagantly generous golden parachute at a time when one-third of the paper’s workforce were being laid off.

The only figure really to pique interest is Dr Dieter Helm, the energy policy expert who has apparently advised Tony Blair on how to package the return of nuclear energy as a viable option. So does this mean FF is blowing the dust off the plans for a nuke plant at Carnsore Point? It’s unlikely. According to the Sunday Business Post, Tom Kitt, junior minister at the Department of the Taoiseach and government chief whip, insists that the decision to invite Dr Helm has no significance for Fianna F�il’s opposition to nuclear energy. The article goes on to say that Kitt stated “Fianna Fail does not favour nuclear energy and there is no debate inside the party on this issue.” Such comments crystallize the real thinking behind the think-in: that is, invite a few pointy-heads over for some lectures to indicate that at least the government sort of cares about the “big picture.” But God forbid if the confab sets off anything as potentially electorally damaging as a debate.