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Should we follow the American model of requiring the president to sit regular medical tests and of releasing the results? The BBC’s Jeremy Paxman was vilified in 2002 for asking Charles Kennedy on Newsnight what were pertinent questions about his drinking
SOMEBODY is going to have to ask Enda Kenny publicly about his drinking. That’s only fair now that Taoiseach Brian Cowen has been asked about his propensity to have a pint or two. Balance demands that if the man who holds the most important political office in the country had to answer this question – first to a reporter from the Sunday Independent and then live on last Friday’s Late Late Show to Ryan Tubridy – then the man who hopes to take the job from him should do so too.
Fine Gael might consider that a bit unfair. After all, Kenny is not beset by rumours about his drinking and how it is affecting him. Like it or not, Cowen has been dogged by such speculation and a boil had developed that needed to be lanced. Cowen, like many other Irishmen, likes his few pints and, on occasion, another couple. He did so particularly when he was younger (and I have personal experience of it) and early photos of him on his elevation to leader of Fianna Fáil (and Taoiseach) showed him downing a pint of stout lustily in front of adoring Offaly crowds.
In normal times that would not have posed a problem. After all, he is not the first Irish political leader to drink alcohol. His predecessor Bertie Ahern built an image of being a man who most people would like to have a pint with and he made no secret of his regular indulgence.
Indeed, he boasted of it. There was his well-stated love of Bass, his old Hot Press interview about driving home after pints of the stuff, his regular evening sessions with friends in two now well known Dublin pubs and regular media coverage of his two "dry periods each year" – at Lent and in November.
It was clear that nothing interfered with his legendary capacity for work; he used alcohol as most people do, for relaxation and nobody thought the worse of him for it. The problem for Cowen though is that many people are ill-disposed towards him and, as a result, prone to exaggerating any sight of him in a pub: two pints gets reported as eight. It’s interesting though that in this age of camera phones – and the willingness of people to take photos of the famous in compromising situations and put them on the net – that nobody has posted any pictures of Cowen falling down or anything like that as a result of his imbibing.
Cowen is a busy man who works hard. I doubt if he gets too many opportunities to cut loose, but he has to be very careful not to overdo it when he does because he is bound to have important work next morning and cannot allow a hangover to interfere with it.
Cowen told Tubridy last Friday that he is trying to keep his life as normal as possible – which is understandable – but as Taoiseach things change. Even if he does not want to become aloof – which is why he drinks publicly rather than privately – he has to be careful as to what image he presents. Such partiality to a few pints becomes far more relevant the more important the position he holds and, even more importantly, the extent of the problems he faces in his job.
He is not helped either by the fact that, in common with many other Irishmen, he is clearly overweight. Ahern carried excess physical baggage many times but he was photographed on occasion taking a run, making a nod towards the connection between healthy mind and body.
Cowen has more background in playing sport – a trial for the Leinster schools rugby team where he came up in direct opposition to future Irish full-back Hugo McNeill and a stint on the Offaly under-21 football team as a corner forward – but it is hard to imagine it now. Despite better grooming, he looks like a man who doesn’t take care of himself sufficiently.
The media is slow to engage in discussion of alcohol use – the notable exception in this country being that of Dr Jim McDaid (even before his drink driving conviction) because of many public comments made by his estranged former wife.
There is often a genuine reluctance to breach the privacy of individuals when it comes to the use of drink unless it can be stated conclusively that enjoyment of alcohol has degenerated into an illness that affects the ability of the person to do his or her job. Just because a politician gets drunk occasionally does not mean he or she has a drink problem: if many journalists and broadcasters were judged by such a censorious criteria, then many of them would be out of work.
The problem for much of the media is that its knowledge of a politician’s alcohol habits derives from the company of the reporter in the same behaviour, which tends to inhibit disclosure on the grounds that it would be hypocritical.
The truth, though, is that our culture does not confront the link between a person’s alcoholic intake and his or her ability to do a job.
Cowen’s liking for a pint was known after Ahern’s retirement last year and although it was a concern to some people, it was never going to be an issue discussed publicly by the media or by the party when it came to assessing his suitability for the job.
Yet there are senior politicians in Ireland who have problems with alcohol use near enough to the level experienced by Charles Kennedy, who was ousted as leader of the Liberal Democrats in Britain a few years back when his drinking became an issue that could not be ignored. I suspect that drinking is inhibiting the performance of at least a couple of senior politicians at present and that some are doing well at present because they have steered clear of drink (save for the occasional break-out). Drinking may be a private issue but does it become a public one when it interferes with the performance of public duties, for which people are paid out of the public purse?
Should we follow the American model of requiring the president to sit regular medical tests and of releasing the results?
The BBC’s Jeremy Paxman was vilified in 2002 for asking Kennedy on Newsnight what were pertinent questions about his drinking.
This fear of asking questions that would be judged by peers or public to be intrusive has inhibited many Irish interviewers. They might also not want to jeopardise future access to important figures who might refuse interviews for fear of similar questions.
LAST Friday evening we previewed the Tubridy/Cowen encounter on The Last Word and one of the issues we discussed was whether or not Tubridy would address the elephant in the room, the rumours of Cowen’s drinking, now that the Taoiseach had answered questions about it in the Sunday Independent.
Tubridy asked about the rumours and Cowen’s reaction to them, but then backed off, not asking how often or how much Cowen drank or how it affected his performance. Indeed, he apologised for even asking, which contrasted with the hard-headed approach he adopted legitimately towards Brian McFadden and his responsibility towards his children in the next interview.
Cowen may regret that he did not get to address the issue fully in this forum: he will now be asked again but in front of a much smaller audience.
As for Kenny’s drinking? Yes, it is well known that he is sociable and can stay in a pub for hours without it seeming to have the slightest effect on him. Proof that it doesn’t seem to affect came in photographs of him last year cycling over the Conor Pass in Kerry, even though he is not far away from the age of 60.
Kenny may get asked the question, but it seems he doesn’t have too much to worry about.
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