In attempting at the weekend again to reclaim the mantle of republicanism for Fianna Fáil, most notably from Sinn Féin, party leader Micheál Martin was returning to well-ploughed furrows. Speaking at the party’s Wolfe Tone Commemoration in Bodenstown on Sunday, Mr Martin rehearsed familiar arguments about the “great tradition of Irish republicanism” defined in terms of religious equality, freedom and constitutionalism, the “objective of creating a state which is tolerant, outward looking and run in the interests of the people.” Above all, a willingness to embrace change.