No end in sight for minister saga

BERTIE AHERN reflected in an interview with this paper that a major speech he gave on 1916 in UCD had been smothered by the media.

The reason? On the way in, he had been ambushed by doorstepping reporters, who wanted to question him about the live controversy of the day - something that was ultimately so memorable that it’s forgotten now.

The upshot was that his major speech outlining the rationale behind the 1916 commemoration was largely ignored. And when the furious debate started on the merits and demerits of the Rising’s legacy, it was a speech by the President Mary McAleese - and not by Ahern - that provided the springboard for debate.

There are some lofty things that politicians aspire to - the big picture posterity stuff. But real life gets in the way.

Martin Cullen’s swipe at the smoking ban in the summer of 2003 dominated newspapers for a couple of weeks but has long been stubbed out in the ashtray of history.

So has Michael Smith’s rebellion on behalf of Nenagh Hospital. Do you remember that? Ahern gave him a slap on the wrist and talked about “demographics and geographics.” The plan itself (the Hanley Report) also became a victim of “geographics.” That too has completely disappeared off the map.

Then there are the hundreds of headlines about crises in the health services that Mary Harney has had served with her orange juice each morning.

Political and media discourse is dominated by the here and now and the immediate - who is up the creek this week?

The Ivor Callely affair was a perfect example of that. Here was a second-line minister who fell on his sword. It happened. It blew up in the media for a few days. And that should have been that. But somehow it has spun out into one of those running stories that has proved very embarrassing for the Government, and particularly for Bertie Ahern.

The first problem was the long delay in appointing his successor. It allowed a long period of unbridled speculation, most of it revolving around Sean Haughey.

Politically, the Taoiseach was criticised for doing nothing to quell the speculation after announcing (to the astonishment of everybody) that Mary Wallace had got the nod.

In his Examiner interview, Mr Ahern explained that there were reasons behind the delay. He made it clear that Haughey should not have automatically expected it, that there were at least 13 others in the running. It wasn’t his fault if the media insisted on second-guessing him. In making these comments, he also - in a roundabout way - put Sean Haughey in his place.

There was another reason too for the delay, the Pat the Cope Gallagher problem. Gallagher had fallen out with his senior minister Noel Dempsey and wanted out of Marine. The Taoiseach had to accommodate him and so a straight replacement became a mini reshuffle.

Which is all very well. But then there were other background issues over junior ministerial posts that Mr Ahern could have addressed. The Government has been there for almost nine years and the numbers of frustrated and ambitious TDs has grown, not shrunk.

Since Síle de Valera announced last autumn she would not be contesting the next election, there have been some mutinous mutterings from backbench FF TDs that she should not have been allowed to retain her junior ministry.

They sensed their leader couldn’t bring himself to give her marching orders, because she is such a strong character. A fortnight ago, she was still insisting she was staying and had heard nothing to the contrary from the Taoiseach. And that, more or less, seemed to be that.

So what can you make of his interview with Clare FM yesterday and his references to a ‘tradition’ within FF of retiring ministers relinquishing their ministries?

At least this time, the message was clear. Síle de Valera must go. But it unearthed another can of worms. The sorry saga over a simple replacement of a junior minister will continue for another few months. What will happen if he lets Sean Haughey down again? Or if Síle de Valera resists?

Instead of majoring on Easter 1916, it seems that Bertie Ahern and Fianna Fáil will instead face weeks of being bogged down as the spat over minor ministerial positions rumbles on.