Falling on deaf ears

THE only sign of political self-delusion more stark than Brian Cowen’s insistence on staying on in office, is his belief that in so doing he is putting the “national interest” ahead of all personal or political concerns.

He no longer has the full trust of all of his cabinet. He does not have the support of all his Fianna Fáil backbenchers. He does not have the support of the people of Ireland. The majority of the Dáil believe an election is needed before the introduction of the 2011 Budget.

And yet the lamest of lame duck leaders imaginable last night signalled his intention to stay in office, to push through the most austere budget in the history of the state; to represent the interests of the people of Ireland in bailout negotiations with the IMF and the EU, and publish a four-year plan intended to restore international confidence in this country.

Despite the enormous need for strong and stable leadership, the Taoiseach is refusing to bring his own leadership of ineptitude to an end.

He appears to be in as deep a state of psychological denial about the people’s desire for a change of Government as he was about the country’s need for a bailout last weekend.

“There are occasions when the imperative of serving the national interest transcends other concerns, including party political and personal concerns. This is one such occasion,” he said in a statement last night.

With all Brian Cowen had to worry about in recent weeks: The markets, the survival of the eurozone, the bailout, the loss of sovereignty and the arrival of Ajai Chopra and his friends from the IMF, it seems he took his eye off the most important ingredient in holding his Government together: The Green Party.

While nobody was noticing them, the Greens were busy deciding their moment to pull out of Government.

Yesterday morning, they dropped the bombshell at the door of Brian Cowen, not long before announcing to the press they would collapse the coalition if a general election was not called for the second half of January.

Their announcement set in motion a day of political outmanoeuvring, in which it looked for a while like a mid-December election was likely until Mr Cowen told his backbenchers to back off and give him more time.

It was the weekend before last when the Green Party first started talking between themselves about the possibility of pulling out of Government. “There was a lot of discussion in the international media about a bailout for Ireland and the dearth of information available to us certainly didn’t inspire confidence,” said a senior party source.

They had discussions on a daily basis throughout last week. From Monday, when senior Fianna Fáil ministers insisted there would be no bailout, right through to the arrival of IMF officials on Thursday.

On Sunday, the cabinet were meeting. The Green ministers John Gormley and Eamon Ryan sat around the table with their Fianna Fáil colleagues without saying anything about their plan. But during the breaks, they were discussing it on the phone with the party’s other four TDs and two senators.

When they ultimately made their announcement yesterday morning, they had opened a Pandora’s Box. The elbows were out for the title of brave TD who would finally bring the worst Government in history to an end.

The Fianna Fáil backbenchers and Independent TDs supporting the Government did not want the Greens to steal their thunder.

The two Independents who hold the balance of power both came out at lunchtime to say it was highly unlikely they would support the budget, but significantly they left the possibility open.

Michael Lowry said he would only support it if Labour and Fine Gael consult with the Minister for Finance to reach agreement on measures it would contain.

Jackie Healy-Rae said he would have to see what was in the budget before making a final decision, but would not vote it through if it contained pension cuts.

Two hours later, Fianna Fáil backbencher Noel O’Flynn issued a letter he had a delivered to the Taoiseach’s office calling for his resignation.

“I feel betrayed and humiliated, as do my own supporters and citizens of the state, by you Taoiseach as leader of the state,” he told Mr Cowen.

“For the good of the country and the Fianna Fáil party, I believe you should announce your resignation now to take effect after the budget,” he told the Taoiseach.

But other backbenchers had different ideas. They believed their party’s only chance of survival was to call an election before the budget, fight the other parties head on about their economic plans and hope they put up a good show.

By evening, Dublin TD, Chris Andrews, said Mr Cowen should step down as leader of Fianna Fáil. He said there should be all-party agreement to get the budget through and if this was not possible, then an immediate election should be called.

By this stage, the Fianna Fáil ministers were sitting down with the Taoiseach in Government Buildings and it appeared as though the President might have been clearing her evening for a visit by the Taoiseach.

But he called the bluff of all of those who had threatened to collapse the Government by announcing he would seek the dissolution of the Dáil sometime in the new year or at the “conclusion of the budgetary process”.

This means Fianna Fáil will face an electorate soon after they have introduced one of the most austere budgets in the country’s history.

For the Green Party, their move was better late than never.

They have been criticised in the past for being an “obedient add-on to Fianna Fáil” and standing by them through a number of unpopular decisions.

But if they did not take yesterday’s action, they risked facing an opposition vote of no confidence in the Taoiseach, or handing the opportunity to someone else to collapse the Government.

The Taoiseach yesterday faced a choice of going to the Áras and calling an election before Christmas, or proceeding with what he called “the budgetary process” with no credibility.

As former minister, Willie O’Dea put it last night, quoting John Kenneth Galbraith, “politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.”

In the end, we got both.