Ghosts of Collins and Dev engage in uncivil war
Fianna Fáil’s bitter little civil war over a treaty was too tempting a target for Fine Gael to resist following the spectacular fallout between Éamon Ó Cuív and Micheál Martin on the upcoming referendum.
That spat provided much ammunition for old enemies and Senator Tom Sheahan had a mischievous look on his face, rising deliberately slowly to relish his moment of long-range revenge, as he fired off a verbal volley before the Soldiers of Destiny knew what had hit them.
“Isn’t it ironic the way history repeats itself, because Deputy Martin isn’t the first Corkman to be shot in the back by a de Valera — and it happened 90 years ago.”
Cue explosions across the chamber as Fianna Fáil’s Paschal Mooney threatened a mass walkout unless the Dev dig was withdrawn, and David Norris erupted like a semi-automatic weapon, spraying the room with high-pitched hyperbole about how “ungentlemanly” and “disgraceful” the affair was.
Mr Sheahan withdrew the remark “as it appears to have caused offence”, delighting in the damage he had just done.
Kerry’s Ned O’Sullivan then tried to restore calm with a stirring cry to national unity on the European issue, imploring all concerned to be “sensible”, which would have been just fine if he had not then followed it up with the rather inflammatory warning: “There are extreme leftists and lunatics everywhere.”
The jury’s out on Mr Sheahan’s revisionist version of history, but his forecasting may be spot-on as the Ó Cuív not-quite-heave makes it even more unlikely Mr Martin’s destiny will be to lead his soldiers into battle at the next general election.
