The current state of Irish politics

Goodbye 2008, hello 2009. The big political news of last year, in Ireland, was the resignation of Bertie Ahern and the ascent of BIFFO, (Brian Cowen). Initially the portly gentleman, from what used to be known as the King’s County, was given a warm welcome as Ireland’s latest Taoiseach. However the disastrous Lisbon Treaty referendum and the death of the Celtic Tiger economy have conspired to scrape the sheen from Mr Cowen’s visage.

Irish politics is full of cliques and the new Minister for Education, Batt O’Keefe (satirically dubbed ‘Battman’ by Phoenix magazine), as well as Mary Coughlan and Brian Lenihan Jr (Tánaiste and Minister for Finance respectively) are rather inexperienced at cabinet. Mr Cowen has thus surrounded himself with a selection of senior ministers that are struggling to achieve, even if they are his mates.

The government’s punishment of the over 70’s by threatening to remove the Medical Card benefits due to them has severely damaged Fianna Fáil in the eyes of the electorate. If a second Lisbon Treaty vote also fails to go his way, our current Taoiseach could find himself closer to Bertie than he’d perhaps like – on the back benches. Unlike Mr Ahern, Cowen can’t be described as the ‘Teflon Taoiseach’. He has a distinct lack of appeal which the famous Nortsoider had in abundance. Cowen makes Eamonn Gilmore (Labour leader) look like Bill Clinton.

2009 will be a tough challenge and if Mr Cowen’s government does exit the political scene, due to overwhelming unpopularity, a certain golden haired boy from Co. Mayo could replace the overweight bruiser from the midlands as Taoiseach. Yes Enda Kenny possesses even less charisma than our current leader. But Kenny has overseen a change in fortunes for his party, Fine Gael. From a state of disaster following the 2002 general election, in which they lost 20 seats, to the 2007 election where they recovered well and gained seats handsomely. The state’s principal opposition party now has 50 seats in Dáil Eireann and are increasingly being seen as a party of government. However Fine Gael haven’t been in office since the mid 1990’s and they will have to raise their game considerably if they are to be in a position to legislate.

Corruption may not be to the fore in Irish politics these days but no longer can we leer at the ding dong politics of the 1980’s (Charlie v Garrett). Mr Kenny’s speech at the last Fine Gael party conference was delivered in a wooden, bland manner but in his favour his party is studiously disciplined, always an advantage. A good example of this has been the silence of his critics within FG. This suggests that the party have closed ranks and are preparing for power. One thing to note though: Nowhere on the cover of the 2008 Phoenix Annual is there a cartoon picture of Enda. Voters may be profoundly unhappy with the Cowen dog’s dinner er…government but at least they know who he is. Can the same be said of the FG leader?

Walking through Dun Laoghaire recently I saw Eamonn Gilmore strolling around. My initial thought was: where are the security men? Then it struck me, it’s only the Labour leader – hardly Gordon Brown or Barack Obama in the pecking order. All the huffing and puffing he expends in opposing the Taoiseach in the Dáil will not get him a seat in cabinet and it is daft for any Labour TD to think they can simply waltz into government on their own with an overall majority. The political scene in this country will ensure that Labour always occupies the thin end of the wedge.

The best way to accessing power for Ireland’s main party of the left would seem to be in striking a deal with either FF or FG. It might not please all his comrades in the party but Mr Gilmore would do a considerable service to the Irish people if he were to persuade his colleagues that going it alone is not an option open to them. An electoral pact would be the best course of action for Labour at this time. They need to know that more can be achieved inside government than outside, even if that means being junior partners in a coalition.

The death of Conor Cruise O’Brien occurred recently and a few words are in order here. Mr O’Brien was a fine, principled statesman and I was a regular reader of his articles in THE IRISH INDEPENDENT each Saturday. When certain elements of the media were soft on Sinn Fein people like Conor challenged their views. He was an unwavering democrat and I always found him to be a stimulating read. May he Rest in Peace.