Bertie’s side-door trick won’t work on Mahon
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern arrived at the 1916 commemorations in an atmosphere thick with emblematic significance. The building at the centre of proceedings represented a landmark turning point in history, prompting thoughts of whether Mr Ahern too was approaching a T-junction in his own journey.
The handsome edifice was gutted during the independence struggle, but later restored to its former glory. Could it be an omen that Bertie too would survive whatever disembowelling the tribunal had in store for him and live to rise again in renewed splendour?
He wasn’t granting any insights into his own thinking on the matter. “Ah lads,” he pleaded to a waiting media as he attempted to have himself smuggled out a side door of the GPO after the ceremony.
But the bold Bertie rallied instantly. “Have a good Easter,” he said in that tone of voice he reserves for difficult moments when he sounds like Vito Corleone reading Mary Poppins.
Never mind, there were others to speak for him.
“He’s in great form,” offered Integration Minister Conor Lenihan, when asked how his boss was holding up amid the latest tribunal revelations. Mr Lenihan then gave a practical demonstration of intergenerational integration, hiding behind his young son and scuttling quickly out of earshot.
European Affairs Minister Dick Roche, however, seemed to take his inspiration more from Pádraig Pearse and the statue of Fidelity atop the GPO’s roof, putting on a display of loquacious loyalty in defence of his leader.
He was in full flight when Emmanuel Sweeney tugged at his tail feathers. Mr Sweeney brought to the ceremony the proud memory of his great-uncles, Patrick and James, who fought for the ideals of Pearse’s proclamation. Was Fianna Fáil fit to commemorate such honourable men? he asked the minister.
“The men of 1916 died for freedom and respect and integrity. Are FF up to that standard? They’re very far from it,” he said.
Mr Roche sought to shake his heckler’s hand in a conciliatory gesture but Mr Sweeney declined the offer, whereupon another descendant of the Easter rebels, pinned with similarly inherited medals — only this time a supporter of the Taoiseach — suggested Mr Sweeney remember the great work Bertie did for peace in northern Ireland. The minister ducked and dived for cover into the GPO leaving the two men to argue the toss.
They parted on chilly but dignified terms, while inside the handsome edifice, cups of tea were being served and Bertie was checking out escape routes.
The side-door trick almost worked, cutting out half the stretch of no man’s land he had to cover to get to his car. The tribunal is a different matter. It looks to have only one way out.
