The man to lift the country
...NO, ARGUES
THERE are no flies on Michael O’Leary, and if there was, they would be paying rent, not to mention landing charges. He is an astute businessman, who brought Ryanair from near bankruptcy to its position as one of the largest airlines in the world.
He is a marketer’s dream. Rarely does a word escape his lips that is not designed to enhance his employer’s bottom line. He is willing to cast himself in the most ridiculous pose in order to gain publicity. Unlike other business chiefs, none of this is done to pump up his own ego, but strictly in pursuit of profit.
He is a refreshing antidote to the many stuffed shirts in the upper reaches of business. Probably uniquely, he can actually claim to be worth the huge sums of money he is paid. It’s difficult to imagine Ryanair being where it is without him.
But running the country? Give me a break. If he ever did take the reins, I’d be on the next Ryanair flight the hell out of here, hand luggage only.
In the first instance, O’Leary’s take on politics is suspect. He has frequently excoriated Bertie Ahern for the manner in which the country was run, yet Ahern’s chief confederate, Charlie McCreevy, sits on Ryanair’s board. How can Ahern be the clown which O’Leary casts him as, yet McCreevy is fit material for the board of Mickser’s pride and joy?
But let’s say he did, through electoral politics, find himself running the country. How would he fare? His success has been largely down to attracting customers and slashing costs to the bone. His customers mainly want one thing — the cheapest price.
The requirements of 4m citizens are much broader than that of Ryanair customers. We live in a society, not an economy.
Instead of just catering for bums on seats, O’Leary would have to deal with the competing interests of employers and employees, business and unions, public and private, the strong and the weak, the sick and the well, traditional and progressive, and voters, voters, voters.
Tearing up the Croke Park Agreement with vengeful intent might thrill the tough guys who blame the nation’s ills on public servants. It would, however, do precious little to make the service function better.
In the simplified version of the ills of the health service, some people think Mickser could put it to right. But it’s one thing to take a decision to discontinue uneconomic routes, another to close beds and cast patients aside. Telling pilots to put up or shut up is all fine and dandy, but closing down nursing homes that aren’t making a profit has a huge human cost.
Those who champion O’Leary as a great leader infer that today’s politicians are incapable of running the place properly. Yet far more pertinent is the political culture in which they operate. Subservience to vested interests; an electoral system in which the TD is primarily a class of a social worker; a Dáil in which the executive is largely unaccountable. That culture has contributed far more to the country’s woes than any individual.
Ivan Yates is a prime example of how those cocooned within the culture operate. These days, he opines with conviction on where the Government is performing poorly, and what is required to be done. He was a very successful businessman in his own right, before falling victim to the savage nature of the current recession.
Yet when he was at cabinet himself, he didn’t perform too differently from those who are now in situ, and with good reason. He wouldn’t have got elected in a culture that cautions against strong, quick, informed and robust action.
For that reason, O’Leary wouldn’t make it as an elected politician, even if he had the right attributes. Instead, the only way he could lead the country would be as a dictator with no requirement to refer to the citizenry. In such a scenario, he could do a pretty good job in the short term.
The State could be treated as a corporate entity. The public service could be reshaped in the image of Ryanair. It would be Mickser’s way or the highway. The citizenry could be divided into those who contribute to the bottom line and those who are a drag on profits.
And then, when the social unrest boils over into outright rebellion, our hero could exit on the last plane out of Dublin Airport. Hand luggage only.
...YES, ARGUES
ONE of the great attractions of history is trying to get inside the minds that shape it. From Genghis Khan, Churchill and Roosevelt, to de Valera and Daniel O’Connell, men who changed the futures of countries and continents — driven by determination, self belief and personal conviction.
Contrast that with the crew we have in situ now.
In Ireland, an unholy trinity of elected politicians, developers and bankers were in cahoots to create a property bubble that ensured the re-election of the TDs, bought private jets for builders and sent bank shares soaring as their employees engaged in the most dangerous game of poker of their lives.
When this trinity’s bluff was called, they didn’t have to run for cover. Without letting us know, the same politicians gave a personal guarantee to European finance kingpins that Ireland’s national gambling addiction wouldn’t in any way affect them. Essentially, they saddled every man, woman and child with their debts — while they (a) ran off into retirement stuffing their pockets with notes (the politicians) (b) guffawed at how the gravy train would roll on, this time under the guise of Nama (the developers) and (c) took the next plane overseas (the bankers).
In short, this country is goosed due to an utter lack of leadership. Europe is also utterly goosed. For three years, we have known this, yet politicians have been incapable of showing leadership beyond getting themselves elected for another term. We need someone to take control.
Do I think Michael O’Leary can save this country?
Well in the immortal words of Clinton, it’s all about the economy, stupid, and if there is any man that I’d like to see in the Department of Finance or in a Ministry for Jobs, it’s Michael O’Leary. Why?
1. He has balls
Michael O’Leary has created a whole new chapter in the PR bible. He’s brash. He’s mouthy. He isn’t even mildly afraid in a country as small as ours, where kowtowing with politicians is seen as de rigeur, to put the boot into the politicians. Bertie, Noel Dempsey, Seamus Brennan, Mary O’Rourke. He knows where he wants to go and will demolish any obstacles in his way. Can you imagine the response of the public sector unions if they walked into a meeting and saw O’Leary facing them?
2. He is ruthless
I don’t want a cuddly, kind minister for finance. Cuddly and kind are attributes that I’d rather find in a childminder. In a bankrupt country, I want a minister for finance who is terrifying: Someone who will look the IMF, ECB, Sarkozy, Merkel and the World Bank in the eye and tell them that a country of 4.5m people isn’t going to be the whipping boy for the mess that is the euro.
3. He cuts to the chase
It’s all about the bottom line with O’Leary and the bottom line is that we can’t keep paying teachers’ salaries that are 20%-30% higher than their European counterparts when they have four-and-a-half months off and are only obliged to be in the office for seven hours a day. I want someone to announce that nobody is entitled to a job for life and if they want to keep their jobs, they’d better face up to the fact that a company can only pay salaries from an overdraft for so long.
O’Leary’s doctrine is all about efficiency. Irish politicians just don’t do efficiency.
4. He can see that austerity won’t save this country
Michael knows that this country’s future begins and ends with jobs. He knows the private sector needs to spearhead job creation and so the Government must facilitate this. Just look at our enviable rates of foreign direct investment, thanks to our low corporation tax rate. O’Leary has offered to create 5,000 Ryanair jobs in this country if airport tax is abolished and airport fees reversed — an offer that has been turned down.
5. He can make decisions
Since the Coalition came into power, it has been doing more U-turns than a lost tourist. The Seanad, the bondholders, the jobs initiative, Roscommon Hospital; the list goes on. We wouldn’t find tough choices being handed to consultants who are paid hundreds of euro per hour. If a decision was right, it would be taken.
5. He is innovative
I love his idea of offering standing room on Cork to London flights for as little as €1, if he could get rid of two of Ryanair’s three onboard toilets. We’d all be clamouring to grab those tickets. Just because something has always been done a certain way does not mean that it’s the best way to do it. He’d be starting with a clean sheet where every expense and salary would have to be justified. Nothing could be taken for granted and it’s only that approach that will allow us to bulldoze our way out of the hellhole our politicians have dug for us.
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