Shortall no red-line issue for Labour TDs

Talk of widespread Labour anger towards Eamon Gilmore is misplaced, the general sense is battles are part of politics, writes political editor Paul O’Brien

IT was a Labour, not a Fine Gael, TD who offered the following assessment of the political realities behind Roisín Shortall’s resignation,

“You’re a junior minister, you announce 20 primary healthcare centres around the country, and there’s not one of them in the senior minister’s constituency? For fuck’s sake.

“Now, his response to that — ‘You gave me nothing, so I’m going to take two’ — is laughable as well. But let’s say I was a senior minister in that situation. Sure, every opposition TD in the constituency would be frying me tomorrow morning [if no centre was announced for the area].”

Politics, this Labour TD says, is about the skilful pursuit of an agenda in government. There would always be battles caused by competing interests. Dealing with them was part of the job description. “It’s not called politics for nothing.”

The above comments, arguably, best capture the mood in Labour right now. Talk of widespread anger towards Eamon Gilmore appears misplaced. But the word “widespread” is an important qualification.

There is widespread anger towards James Reilly, for sure, and a feeling within Labour that the health minister’s questionable performance will eventually catch up with him.

There is concern that Labour have suffered another ministerial casualty with the Coalition less than halfway through its term — Willie Penrose resigned last year. There is regret that a respected and principled colleague has resigned.

But there is also a sense that it was inevitable after she pursued her battle with Dr Reilly in public, when the party leadership made it very clear they preferred to pursue it in private. “I think she kind of left herself in a situation where her options were becoming narrower and narrower,” the Labour TD said.

Once Ms Shortall went public, it left the leadership in a difficult place. Supporting her would have caused a rift in the Coalition. So they chose not to — despite all the claims to the contrary by senior Labour figures in the last 48 hours. And so she chose to resign.

Is it a blow to Mr Gilmore? No question. Will it raise further questions about his leadership? Yes. Will it raise further questions about Labour’s ability to implement its policy? Yes again.

But it seems it is mostly the grassroots, the public, and the media who will be asking those questions. At this point, it appears that most of the Labour TDs and senators remain behind Mr Gilmore for now. But again, the word “most” is an important qualification.

“There is certainly an issue of political management. I mean, if it was effective, this wouldn’t have happened,” said another Labour politician. “To lose one minister is unfortunate, to lose two is careless… These kind of things are own goals and we can do without them.”

Another Labour politician said selecting Alex White so quickly to replace Ms Shortall was a smart move because it switched the focus from her resignation. But that did not change the circumstances behind her departure.

“The idea that it’s not a problem for Gilmore is not the case,” he said.

“In the broader Labour movement, they’re incensed that she wasn’t supported... She’s a bit of a Joan of Arc now for them, a bit of a martyr really, because she was saying everything that they believe in and that we pledged to do.

“I think the Gilmore management team are just getting too fucking smart for their own good. They may think they have pulled this one out of the fire but they [let go of] one of their own for Reilly... So I think it’s ultimately more of a problem for Labour than the Government.”

The last point chimes with the Fine Gael view, where there’s a sense that Reilly is safe for now.

One opposition figure agreed yesterday, saying of Ms Shortall’s resignation: “It lances the boil. It’s a disaster. It lets Reilly off the hook.”

However, another opposition figure was not so sure, opining that personal, rather than political, issues were likely to catch up with Dr Reilly eventually. He was referring to the fact that Dr Reilly had been listed as a debt defaulter in Stubbs Gazette. That issue has not gone away.