Ruthless Kenny doesn’t spare axe
Yep, for Kenny yesterday produced a streak of ruthlessness that was never seen before.
Maybe the realisation that he would be announcing the Government that might have been drove him to defy expectations in naming his shadow cabinet.
Kenny didn’t spare the axe. Eight spokespeople were dropped. They included some under-performers but also people who gave their lifeblood to their portfolios. Cork East’s David Stanton could be counted among that group, as could Bernard Allen and Jim O’Keeffe, though a blundering performance by the Cork South-West solicitor during an election press conference did untold damage to his party.
As Margaret Thatcher once said, a good leader knows how to carve the turkey. Kenny yesterday carved this particular bird with a meat cleaver, leaving plenty of blood on the floor. Also out were former leader Michael Noonan (who’s job is really chairman of the Public Accounts Committee anyway); Dinny McGinley who came out of retirement in Donegal; John Perry; Paul Connaughton, and Bernard Durkan.
Loyalty counted for little. As did service and experience. It’s clear from his choice that Kenny is going for quality. He and those closest to him realise that, if it has any chance to win the next election, he will have to resort to Fianna Fáil’s Darwinian approach — politics is ultimately about the survival of the fittest.
There are a couple of interesting things to note about this shadow cabinet selection. For one, it is the smallest in recent Fine Gael history, a bare 15 spokespeople plus the chief whip.
Secondly, the only person (and this is no surprise) who is left standing is deputy leader and finance spokesman Richard Burton — there was no place else for him to go.
Thirdly, Fine Gael will be able to trade on its more youthful complexion — Leo Varadkar is still in his 20s and there are five spokespeople in their 30s.
And the best have risen to near the top of the pecking order. Bruton remains put of course. But Michael Creed has agriculture; the potentially formidable Varadkar is given enterprise; Brian Hayes returns to Education; another returning TD, Charles Flanagan, moves to Justice; the second rookie TD, Dr James Reilly, becomes health spokesman; while Fergus O’Dowd moves to transport.
The only real surprise is Phil Hogan’s move to environment. I have never got the sense that he has a real feel for a portfolio that will be one of the crucial battlegrounds in the 30th Dáil. He is very close to Kenny and his appointment reflects his seniority, but he will need to accompany his effective partisan debating skill with some detailed knowledge and expertise or else he ain’t going nowhere.
Looked at from a purely parochial perspective, Munster has lost out, with only two front bench positions as opposed to four. Michael Creed will make a good fist of agriculture, though I would have thought Simon Coveney would have got something other than Communications and Energy.
Coveney has ambitions and will be good on detail. He needs to overcome a certain indecisiveness and become a little more robust in debates if he still entertains serious pretensions of assuming the leadership. Besides, the likes of Brian Hayes, Denis Naughten and Leo Varadkar (not to mention Lucinda Creighton) will also be shaping their own destinies in the coming Dáil.
The elevation of Immigration and Integration, and also of Children, to full frontbench status gives an indication of Fine Gael’s direction in this Dáil. There’s an important children’s referendum coming up next year and that fact that a tenth of our population is now foreign-born will lead to profound changes in Irish society in the next decade. These moves mean that the message from FG will also be changed — it will be more complex. It might also mean that the party will veer closer to its Christian Democrat wing rather than the more liberal social democrat one (though Alan Shatter and Senator Frances Fitzgerald are closely associated with the latter wing).
Charlie Flanagan is also a good choice as justice spokesman. The Portlaoise solicitor can be grumpy and tetchy, descriptions often attached to Labour’s new spokesman Pat Rabbitte.
There was only one major faux pas. It emerged that the new community, rural affairs and Gaeltacht spokesman, Michael Ring, speaks no Irish. Kenny, himself a fluent speaker, had to deny that this was another example of Fine Gael degrading the Irish language after it proposed that it should be dropped as a compulsory subject for the Leaving Certificate.
The Fine Gael leader was also asked was his decision to drop eight spokespeople not a recipe for creating bitterness and dissent within the party? But he could not win on that question. If he hadn’t done a ruthless cull, he would be accused of being soft. As it was, it was a very good start by a leader who will need to retain that sharpness for a full term against the sharpest operators in the business.
THE former president of the Irish Medical Organisation worked as a GP in north county Dublin. It is hoped he will bring much-needed clarity and authority to the party’s health policies after FG failed to capitalise effectively on voter disquiet with the way the medical budget was being spent at the last election.
SON of ex-TD Liam Naughten, was youngest member of the 28th Dáil and has made steady but unremarkable progress up the party’s ranks since then.
Enda Kenny has put great emphasis on immigration issues and Naughten will have to attempt to look tough, while still inclusive.
A HEAVY hitter with a national profile before exiting the Dáil after 15 years in the FG wipe-out of 2002, Flanagan’s background in law will stand to him when bringing Brian Lenihan to book in a key vote-winning area, where FG punched well below their weight in the last Dáil.
AFTER being seen as an under-performer in the education portfolio in the last Dáil, the ambitious Offaly TD is given a demotion and a chance to rebuild her stock in a role shadowing a department which garners little attention unless FF plans similar post-election cuts to benefits which caused much controversy in 2002.
THE ex-teacher has proved a dogged trouble-maker for the Government and will prove a more formidable obstacle to Transport Minister Noel Dempsey than Olivia Mitchell. The Government has been given the benefit of the doubt by voters in the commuter belts due to the golden promises of the Agenda 21 programme, but any delays will be exploited by O’Dowd.
A RETURN to the shadow cabinet for the colourful Mayo TD after being dropped in the last reshuffle. Last time, Enda Kenny offered him fisheries, which he thought beneath him. Now he’s back marking Eamon Ó Cuív. He has one major problem though. He doesn’t speak Irish. Kenny denied this was downgrading the language. Ring won’t lack emotion. Expect shouting matches with Dev Óg.
A MOVE sidewards for the veteran North Kerry TD. Deenihan has become a wise old owl. And for a man who was a dogged man-marker during his days with the great Kerry team, Deenihan has been a surprisingly mild Dáil performer, who prefers to come with alternative ideas and initiatives. Will need a bit of fieriness to take on the crabby Willie O’Dea.
THE 35-year-old has got rid of his young fogey image and is now one of the party’s genuine heavyweights. A potential future leader, Hayes will give Mary Hanafin a far more uncomfortable passage through the next few years than his predecessor Olwyn Enright. Was a teacher for six months but that was so long ago that it makes no difference.
WOW. Straight elevation into a serious finance portfolio, marking Micheál Martin. Another medical practitioner cum politician, Varadkar will prove a more formidable spokesman than the rookies given the leg-up in 2002. Very much of the Christian Democrat wing of the party, he lacks in neither intelligence nor ego. Ultimately not a surprise it was he rather than Lucinda Creighton who got the nod.
HOGAN is another possible future contender for leader. Very senior in the Kenny hierarchy but a surprise appointment. He has no real track record in his area, unlike his conscientious predecessor Fergus O’Dowd. Will not lack when it comes to barracking but has given no indication to date of a passion for this area. Will need it because this will be a pivotal area for making or breaking the coalition.
A PROMOTION for the very likeable Wicklow TD. Timmins would have been a good agriculture spokesman but his former existence as an army officer will stand him in good stead in this portfolio. It’s not the type of portfolio that allows you to man-mark that closely. He can score points by coming up with new ideas on Ireland’s engagement with Europe and the world.
BRUTON is the only Fine Gael frontbencher to stay in the same portfolio. He also remains deputy leader. A highly accomplished performer and former economist, he is regarded by political observers as invaluable to Mr Kenny, not least because of his far superior understanding of economics.
The Dublin North Central TD was first elected to the Dáil in 1982.
PERHAPS something of a surprise, given the number of people Mr Kenny had at his disposal. Creed was first elected to the Dáil in 1989, and served as a frontbench spokesman on education for the party for a period, but lost his seat in 2002 in Cork North West in a shock result. Won back his seat this year, but his elevation to the front bench was not widely anticipated. Formerly a farmer.
A CLEAR demotion for Mitchell, who was the party’s spokeswoman on transport in the last Dáil term. Was widely considered to have performed poorly in that portfolio, however, so the switch yesterday to a less important role did not come as a surprise.
Mitchell, a former school teacher, was first elected to the Dáil in 1997.
SHATTER will relish his return to frontline politics, following a five-year absence after losing his Dublin South seat in 2002. A solicitor, he is a natural fit for the children portfolio, having written Family Law in the Republic of Ireland, the first authoritative work on the subject.
He has built a reputation as one of the best legislators in the Dáil, bringing forward a number of bills.
BEFORE the election, Coveney had to choose between his European Parliament seat or running again for the Dáil in the hope he would become a minister if Fine Gael won the election. But in the absence of victory, has to make do with the shadow communications portfolio. The Cork South Central TD was first elected in 1998, taking the seat of his late father in a by-election.
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