Mixed legacy from a career cut short

MARTIN CULLEN will never be described as a much-loved politician.

Few in political circles will even consider him liked.

However, for the sheer unpredictability of his comments and conduct, outgoing Minister Cullen will almost certainly be missed as a member of Cabinet.

Similar to Willie O’Dea, what Mr Cullen lacked in achievements he made up for with sensation and were it not for illness he would not be leaving the Cabinet after eight years.

Aged 55, his historical affiliations meant he was never really a contender for one of the top Cabinet posts. Benefiting from experience and geography, however, he could have expected to remain in situ for as long as a Fianna Fáil coalition was in power. His ministerial career has been cut short, however, by a back ailment which has caused him extended bouts of pain going back to a near-death car accident in his youth.

Mr Cullen’s career has been unconventional. In September 1994 he jumped ship to join Fianna Fáil, leaving his colleagues in the Progressive Democrats at a particularly low ebb.

Weeks previously Pat Cox had departed and Dessie O’Malley had polled badly in the European elections.

Geography gave him a strong position in Fianna Fáil and he was promoted when Bertie Ahern’s government swept to power in 1997. For five years he was the junior minister with responsibility for the Office of Public Works. In 2002 he was moved up to a senior Cabinet post, at the Department of the Environment. Cullen’s forthright media manner kept him in the spotlight but it also invited needless ridicule.

As Environment Minister his defence of electronic voting, after its problems were flagged, bordered on the irrational. It also meant that in the public eye he was to blame for the money wasted on the machines, when it was, in fact, his predecessor Noel Dempsey’s idea. Like Mr Dempsey he was prone to abrasive behaviour as a minister but he often picked fights he could not, or at least did not, win.

Election spending reform, for example, caused a furore with the opposition and was dropped. Most recently he engaged in a ridiculous shouting match in the Dáil with Labour leader Eamon Gilmore. Mr Cullen was frequently rolled out by the Government as their media representative but, like others, clammed up when it suited him.

For the past fortnight his office and his department have been reluctant to facilitate media questions about his departure to either confirm or dampen speculation.

But this, in some ways, reflects his political character. He has never been anxious to charm any audience and save for his defection from the PDs he never sought the sanctuary of numbers. He was not fully trusted by Fianna Fáil thoroughbreds who preferred to keep the family tight.

In public he fought lonely battles. He floated the idea of privatising Aer Lingus without Cabinet consent, earning a rebuke from Mary Harney.

As Transport Minister he bullishly pressed ahead with the agenda. His management of a protracted effort to cut driving test waiting times became a Government fiasco. He was similarly argumentative with the transport unions.

His shift to Social and Family Affairs in 2007 and to his final Cabinet post, at Arts, Sports and Tourism, were by nature less combative – as both were charged with giving out money rather than cutting back. By that time, however, Mr Cullen was, as he admitted himself, being avoided in the political establishment.

This was due to circumstances he had no control over. There was a lingering legacy from a 2004 article in the Evening Herald which alleged, without any foundation, that he had an affair with PR consultant Monica Leech.

A subsequent ethics investigation found no cause for concern relating to his role in Mrs Leech’s securing of a Government PR contract.

A series of subsequent libel actions taken by Ms Leech have shown there was absolutely no justification for the articles.

Yet even with this vindication, Mr Cullen could not avoid a spat. He claimed recently how his treatment by the media was akin to being repeatedly raped. Despite strong criticism of the analogy he has stood over the comments.

Mr Cullen entered politics at the age of 32, promising to reform and modernise Waterford’s economic infrastructure.

Today an aspiring councillor vying to replace him could easily take the same issues as their own. Similarly they could point to his campaign pamphlet for his breakthrough election in 1987 and suggest he did not deliver on his promises.

This first pitch sought to abolish the Seanad and make TDs sit for longer.

He wanted a pre-school education policy, a potential third-level student loan scheme and the scrapping of PRSI. Locally he wanted to focus on the long-term development of Waterford Port and the establishment of a technological university in Waterford. In 1987 it was enough to get him elected with 13 other freshly consolidated Progressive Democrats. But the honeymoon was not to last.

He lost his seat two years later, losing 1,900 of his first preference votes which he blamed on a debate around the suggestion of a £50 water charge in Waterford. In the immediate aftermath he told RTÉ how he had met with his bank manager to try and help him rearrange an investment he made in running his constituency office.

But he was not out of work for as long as he feared and was immediately appointed to the Seanad by Charlie Haughey. He was subsequently re-elected to the Dáil in 1992 and has secured his seat on every occasion since.

Mr Cullen was educated at Waterpark College and trained in auctioneering and marketing in the Waterford Institute of Technology.

Politics has always been in his blood.

His great-grandfather, Tom Cullen, was elected to represent the area in 1912.

Both his father, Tom, and grandfather, Martin, served as mayors of the city. He himself competed as an independent councillor for Waterford City Council in 1985 but was not elected.

Mr Cullen later held the post of mayor in 1993.

He leaves Cabinet with a varied legacy which he would boast has been praiseworthy but which many others would claim has been underwhelming if at times entertaining.