Alison O'Connor: Coveney bears responsibility for letting Zappone affair ‘rumble on’

After the controversy surrounding the near-appointment of Katherine Zappone as a United Nations special envoy, Alison O'Connor believes that Simon Coveney still has lessons to learn from his handling of the affair

There could be even more fallout if Sinn Féin decide to go ahead with a motion of no confidence in the Foreign Affairs minister over the controversy surrounding the planned appointment of Katherine Zappone as a UN Special Envoy. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Mary Robinson’s closest adviser recalled on a few occasions the difficulty the former President had in adjusting to civilian life after all the pomp that surrounded being the country’s first citizen.

Bride Rosney, who would go on to work with her subsequently, described Mrs Robinson as having become “institutionalised and dysfunctional” and recalled being in New York with her very shortly after she stood down as President.

“We got into an elevator and she just stood there, saying ‘Why isn’t it moving?’ I answered, ‘Try pressing the button, Mary.’ She had forgotten how to choose her clothes, how to use a credit card,” she also recalled.

The episode came to mind listening to Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney this week.

It wasn’t during his re-appearance before the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs, but rather a re-listen to his interview at the end of July on RTÉ’s News at One with anchor Bryan Dobson concerning the controversial appointment of former minister Katherine Zappone as a United Nations special envoy.

I like to imagine the Corkman doesn’t have a problem choosing a tie for himself in the morning or operating the lift in Iveagh House. However the tone of that exchange from almost six weeks ago certainly denoted a man entirely at ease with his own very healthy ego. 

There was a strong vibe of a man who could not quite believe he was being asked to explain himself in unilaterally deciding to appoint a former Cabinet colleague to a job with considerable cache.

Here are some brief ministerial quotes. They give a good representation of how things went.

“I think you are misunderstanding….” “I thought, and it was my judgement….” “Don’t start trying to create a new story here.” “It is no more complicated than that.” But if you want a more meaty example, there is this one — my own personal favourite, delivered by the minister in a tone of considerable exasperation.

This was my job as Minister for Foreign Affairs. I do a lot of complicated things every single week. I had just come back from Africa where I was in Kenya and Somalia working on human rights issues on our role linked to the Security Council. The putting together of a special envoy was a relatively minor issue, until it blew up into a political issue.

Then there was the comparison — without any sense of irony — of when Joe Biden appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry as his special envoy on climate change. Our Merchant Prince huffed down the line that the US President had been able to do it without anyone asking pesky questions. 

I think that even Katherine Zappone herself — a woman shown to have a very healthy sense of self belief, as well as an ability to hustle — might have considered that comparison a bit of a stretch. Then again, maybe not.

It brought to mind a general election canvas I did in Cork in February 2020 with Mr Coveney, then tánaiste. On the day before he’d told journalists he knew Micheál Martin “better than most” and “he is not the person” to lead Ireland into what would be the next phase of the Brexit challenge. 

I asked if, in hindsight, he’d any concerns that he came across as a bit of an arrogant Blueshirt git? He looked very taken aback.

“I don’t think so at all. I haven’t insulted Micheál Martin.” I wondered at the time what exactly would constitute a Simon Coveney insult?

This is not to say I believe the Fine Gael minister has any particular issue with the Fianna Fáil leader, apart from an understandable Cork South Central constituency rivalry. Rather it is to illustrate the seeming lack of understanding as to how all of this comes across; the failure to recognise that a decade of being in Cabinet can inflate your self-importance to gargantuan levels. 

Perhaps the tendencies were always there, and stalking the corridors of power for so long has only enhanced them. We saw evidence of it again during his bid to be our EU Commissioner when Phil Hogan resigned.

It’s also there in the deleting of texts which should clearly have been kept, as well as his ridiculously narrow version of what constitutes lobbying. It is a pity he is so afflicted. 

This politician has served the country well. He is a significant political asset to Ireland and his work rate is huge on everything from Brexit, to Ireland securing a place on the UN Security Council. There would have been a respect among Fianna Fáilers for his ministerial performance, but needless to say his behaviour for the bulk of this controversy has caused serious anger.

But did he lick it off the ground, or do you just have to look no further than the Tánaiste to see further Fine Gael arrogance with this affair?

Interesting also, in hindsight, have been the utterances, or lack of them from Fine Gael Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe on the Zappone controversy. Despite media opportunities where he could have done so, he omitted to mention his own role in the Zappone affair. 

We only discovered it after the release of documents from the Department of Foreign Affairs this week. Turns out he was the one the former minister for children had initially turned to for advice on a career in the UN. He had referred her to Mr Coveney, and had subsequently mentioned it to him as well.

Simon Coveney has been significantly damaged by the Katherine Zappone controversy, as has Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and the wider Fine Gael party. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

Simon Coveney has been significantly damaged by all of this, as has Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and the wider Fine Gael party. It has certainly negatively impacted relations within the three-party coalition. 

It has far more than a media concoction, as characterised by the Taoiseach last week. There could be even more fallout if Sinn Féin decide to go ahead with a motion of no confidence in the Foreign Affairs minister.

Aspiring Fianna Fáil leader Jim O’Callaghan was correct to say certain Fine Gael ministers had displayed a lack of respect to the office of Taoiseach, the Fianna Fáil party and the Green Party, behaving in a “very inappropriate way” in what was clearly a done deal on the envoy appointment.

Six weeks on from his tetchy interview on the News at One, a considerably more humble sounding Simon Coveney was being heard on the same programme as excerpts from his second appearance at the Oireachtas Committee were played. He apologised for the embarrassment he had caused the Government and the “sloppiness” of some of his answers during his first appearance.

He said the controversy has “rumbled on for far too long and should have come to an end on the basis of a clear and credible explanation before now”. Even with all of that there was some considerable retro-fit logic in his contributions which continue to stretch credibility. 

It’s too early to tell if real lessons have been learned. I’d err on the side of thinking not enough of them.

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