Elaine Loughlin: Hard work and humility have brought Dara Calleary back in from the cold

Dara Calleary's response to Golfgate contrasts with Coalition colleagues such as Simon Coveney and Barry Cowen — and not least Robert Troy, who stood down with a classic non-apology

Dara Calleary who replaced Robert Troy as a junior minister impressed many in 2020 with his swift and gracious resignation from as agriculture minister in the wake of Golfgate. File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Dara Calleary’s political comeback is a lesson in how a bit of humility and some hard work can bring anyone in from the cold.

This time two years ago, Mr Calleary, then a senior minister, was forced to resign amid public fury over the Golfgate fiasco, which struck a nerve with a cooped-up public who were growing frustrated over continuing Covid restrictions.

Unlike the man whose position he is now filling, the speed at which he fell on his sword has been noted by many in the party in recent days who favoured his return to a ministerial position — albeit a junior role.

Ahead of the announcement, one Fianna Fáil senator said that appointing Mr Calleary would be a “popular move within the party”:  

"If it was Dara, there would be no one in the parliamentary party who would begrudge it. 

There is a general view that Dara paid a big price [for Golfgate]. 

While other colleagues in the current coalition have allowed scandals to drag out for days, weeks — and, in the case of Simon Coveney and the Zapponegate controversy, an entire summer — within 12 hours of the story of the golf event in Galway breaking on the Irish Examiner website, Mr Calleary had tendered his resignation.

In a Twitter post, he apologised “unreservedly” to the general public for his actions. His letter of resignation to Taoiseach Micheál Martin reiterated this, singling out in particular healthcare workers whose jobs he said he had “inadvertently made more difficult”.

“I reiterate my apology to the people of our island,” the letter added. “Their work and their commitment in this great effort has been immense.”

In contrast, it took Robert Troy 10 days of wall-to-wall coverage, involving multiple statements, clarifications, and radio interviews which put significant heat on the entire Government, to finally step aside.

The statement issued by Mr Troy was also less of an apology and more of an attack on those who had brought to light the multiple errors and omissions relating to his property assets and directorships made in his Oireachtas declarations.

In what could be viewed as a classic non-apology, Mr Troy wrote he was sorry that it had “caused so much upheaval” and had “distracted from the serious issues at hand in this country and the good work this government is doing”.

Clearly humble pie is not something that is often served up in the Troy household and he remained defiant, stressing the things for which he he would not apologise.

“While I accept my mistakes, I would like to state that the narrative being put forward by some media and some in the opposition that landlords are villains is simply wrong.”

But, at the very least he did resign, unlike fellow Fianna Fáil member Barry Cowen, who Mr Martin was forced to sack after a prior drink driving offence emerged.

Mr Cowen has been a vocal backbencher, raising criticisms both in the Dáil and at the weekly meetings of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.

Interestingly, Mr Cowen — who, like Mr Calleary, is a former agriculture minister — was not a name that was being put out as speculation mounted around Troy's successor in recent days.

Meanwhile, Mr Calleary, having quickly repented, has kept his head down around Leinster House.

Politics can be a cruel game, the electorate is often unforgiving, but Mr Calleary has shown that there is always a way back.