Rabbitte’s tainted legacy

In Opposition, Pat Rabbitte, facing Ireland’s most reckless, incompetent, and corrupt government, performed with vigour and style. He was articulate, robust, and incisive, making them shift uneasily in their Dáil seats.

He was one of my reasons for voting for the present Coalition: I believed that the Labour Party would keep Fine Gael in line should they drift too far to the Right, but, instead, we are saddled with a government that becomes more Thatcherite by the week. Rabbitte’s legacy will be that he, as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, has continued the policy of signing ownership of our vital oil-and-gas fields over to the oil companies; a policy created in the Aherne era; and which denies the electorate any say in what happens to Irish oil and gas. He has presided over the disastrous break-up of Bord Gáis, and the sale of a modern power station at a loss, including a 700,000 customer base to the controversial British Energy Centrica Company at a knockdown price. An unenviable legacy.

Joe Brennan