Irish Examiner view: Fianna Fáil's turn to consider its options

On paper, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern is a standout option, with a lengthy public career, significant achievements on his CV, and a high level of voter recognition. In reality, however, Mr Ahern is also indelibly associated with the economic crash. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Last week, Fine Gael was the political party twisting itself in knots as it tried to find a candidate for the presidential election. Former minister Heather Humphreys emerged as the likely candidate, but it remains unclear whether MEP Sean Kelly will abandon his quest for the nomination. That looks like a live contest still.

This week, it is the turn of Fianna Fáil to mull over its options. With the election looming ever closer, it is surprising that the party — with an impressive track record in providing occupants for the Áras —has not already settled on a standard bearer.

The obvious reason for that tardiness is the obvious candidate. On paper, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern is a standout option, with a lengthy public career, significant achievements on his CV, and a high level of voter recognition. In reality, however, Mr Ahern is also indelibly associated with the economic crash, not to mention damaging appearances at the Mahon Tribunal which have passed into folklore; who now can hear the term ‘dig-out’ without thinking immediately of the former taoiseach?

It has been widely reported that the Fianna Fáil leadership is resistant to the idea of Mr Ahern running, and any lingering hopes about his electability were probably dispelled by pop singer CMAT’s recent song 'Euro-Country', which linked him to the aftermath of the crash for a whole new generation of voters, and not in a positive way.

In recent days, another name has emerged as a possible Fianna Fáil candidate: Jim Gavin, the former Dublin senior football manager. Mr Gavin is an impressive figure — a successful sportsman as both player and manager, and a long-time Defence Forces pilot. He has chaired both the Citizens’ Assembly on a Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin and the north-east inner city taskforce.

That CV illustrates both his abilities and a potential weakness. Mr Gavin’s civic achievements are understandably Dublin-focused, which is understandable. What might hinder him with a national constituency is a sporting career built on beating other counties.

Would his stewardship of an all-conquering Dublin team endear him to voters in Leinster, for instance?

Whatever Fianna Fáil decide, the presidential election continues to entertain.

Locals look to help each other 

The environmental challenges facing us are many and varied, and this week we have seen that variety manifest itself once again.

In the Cork town of Midleton, a ‘flood buddy’ scheme was recently proposed, a plan to enable those living alone or without family members to get help and support if the town is struck by flooding again. This news comes ahead of the second anniversary of the devastation wrought in the town by Storm Babet, and could therefore be seen as prudence ahead of the winter. It is entirely understandable that there would be nervousness in Midleton as the evenings start to draw in.

It is also clear that there is unhappiness with the slow progress of the local authority in installing flood defences in the town, however — which means the flood buddy plan also suggests a community focused on helping itself rather than relying on municipal bodies.

Further to the east, there are different concerns, with residents of Pilmore Cottages near Youghal drawing attention to the damage being done to their local road by coastal erosion in recent years.

The road has been closed as a result on several occasions, and flooding has also come close to reaching the residents’ houses. Youghal’s blue flag beach, and the boardwalk along that beach, have also been affected.

The Pilmore residents are seeking the reinstatement of groynes — timber barriers which prevent floods — in order to protect the road and their homes from the erosion which has eaten away 30m of beach in the last two decades.

It would be disingenuous to believe that climate change is not playing a role in such environmental challenges, but what Midleton and Pilmore can teach us is not to throw our hands up in despair because of the global scale of climate change.

In both cases, focused local action is at least a remedy for the immediate problem, as well as a guide for other communities.

New chapter for Denmark

Denmark recently recognised that it was experiencing a “reading crisis”, and its culture minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, has acted accordingly.

The country’s 25% tax rate on books is the highest in the world, and the government believes the tax is contributing to that crisis.

So last week Mr Engel-Schmidt announced that his government would propose removing the tax in its budget.

This may cost 330m kroner (€44m) a year, but he has strongly defended the move.

He said: “This is something that I, as minister of culture, have worked for, because I believe that we must put everything at stake if we are to end the reading crisis that has unfortunately been spreading in recent years.”

It is an imaginative step, with encouraging precedents. Sweden reported a rise in book sales when it did the same in 2001, and Denmark will be hoping for the same.

Book sales in Ireland have been strong and relatively consistent for years. While this may not be surprising given the literary talent this small island has produced, it should not be forgotten that there is no Vat on books here either.

It is encouraging that this is one lesson the Irish authorities did not need to learn.

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