A mixed bag of political progress

On a recent Wednesday night in the Dáil, the word went round that Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was re-shuffling his frontbench.

“Dara Calleary’s gone to enterprise,” one well-placed source said. “Billy Kelleher’s gone to communications.”

The next day, the reshuffle was formally announced. Dara Calleary had, indeed, moved from the justice portfolio to enterprise. But Billy Kelleher remained firmly in situ as the party’s health spokesman.

Word went round Leinster House again — this time that Mr Kelleher had “dug in” and refused to move from the health portfolio.

It didn’t appear to say much about Mr Martin’s strength as party leader. But he insists that the rumours were misplaced.

“There were all sorts of rumours going around on the Wednesday about who was going where, [but] nothing was finalised until Thursday,” he says.

Mr Martin claims he discussed the health portfolio with Mr Kelleher, and then discussed whether there would be “other portfolios that he might be interested in”.

But that was all, the party leader insists. There was no diktat issued and no refusal in response.

“So no, there was no move to move Billy from health, but certainly options would be considered because he has a broad range of strengths... I’m very happy with the reshuffle, I’m very happy with Billy in health, and I have no difficulty at all with Billy in health.”

The reshuffle as a whole failed to garner much attention — a further indication, as if any were necessary, of where Fianna Fáil finds itself these days.

There was a brief flicker of interest in the fact that Éamon Ó Cuív had returned to the frontbench, and that was it.

Mr Ó Cuív had been deputy leader until February, when he clashed with Mr Martin over the party’s stance on the EU fiscal treaty.

Martin says the reduced size of his parliamentary party — just 19 TDs and 14 senators — is one of the reasons he is not appointing a replacement deputy leader.

Prior to the Bertie Ahern era, he says, there was no deputy leader position, as “the frontbench or the cabinet of the day were all active in various ways as the deputy leaders or as a collective leadership”.

He’s opting for a similar approach. “I said to all of the frontbench: ‘You’re all leaders.’ Just like the founding members of the party — collectively they got into the old Ford bangers and travelled the length and breadth of Ireland to build Fianna Fáil and create a new party. That’s where we are now.”

The party is currently reassessing its principles, or core values, and will publish the new list in the autumn. Irish unity and promoting the Irish language top the existing list of core values. Martin says that while they will remain, the new list is going to place a big emphasis on “the social agenda of the party”.

In particular, he wants “to put education at the centre of what the party is all about”. There are two other areas he says he is “anxious to have incorporated”.

The first is public health. “I think that goes to the core of a republic, in terms of the citizen being at the centre, and I think in modern society, vested interests and powerful interests have trumped the citizen in the public health arena. We had it with tobacco for decades, alcohol is there, food, and I think the political system needs to be far more robust in championing the rights of citizens in all of that debate.”

He says the heat around junior minister Roisin Shortall’s plans to curb alcohol abuse is a case in point.

“Before you even start, the lobbies are in and people are getting frightened off and people are backing off, and no sensible discussion is taking place.”

The other area he is keen to focus on is the environment. That Fianna Fáil would suddenly become ardent about the issue might seem bitterly ironic to their former coalition partners, the Greens. But Mr Martin insists: “I’m a passionate believer that the climate change agenda is here.”

When taken all together, it seems Mr Martin’s focus on the social agenda is an attempt to move the party into a new space. But he defines it as “progressive” rather than “liberal”.

“I think progressive is the word I’d use — socially progressive but economically progressive as well.”

The progression can be seen in the party’s support for gay marriage. He accuses the Government of kicking the issue to touch by firstly referring it to the newly-established Constitutional Convention for consideration and then putting other items — such as reducing the voting age and presidential term — at the top of the convention’s agenda.

“The idea that these come before the consideration of a substantive issue like gay marriage is baffling to us, at the same time that the Tánaiste says it’s the civil rights issue of a generation. That makes no sense... it’s all about spin and news management.”

He believes the Taoiseach is wrong in being so reluctant to state his own position on gay marriage.

“I think he’s being political. I mean, if he has an honest view, say it. If he believes he’s against it, I would respect his position on that. But at least he should state a position, and equally facilitate a discussion. But he’s not even facilitating a discussion — it’s been decisively kicked to touch.”

But Mr Martin himself seems all in favour of kicking another social issue to touch — namely legislation to reflect the Supreme Court judgement in the 1992 X case.

As recounted elsewhere in this newspaper today, Martin fears such legislation could allow for abortion in more widespread circumstances than envisaged by the judgement.

“I’m not clear what [Health] Minister Reilly wants to do. I’m not so sure he’s clear himself what he wants to do. And I think you’re not going to see much on that front.”