Irish Examiner view: What does Andy Burnham’s elevation mean for us?

It was notable that one of British prime minister Andy Burnham’s earliest calls was to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, a chat described by the latter as a “very good discussion on the positive relationship and co-operation between Ireland and the UK.”

Andy Burnham, the new UK prime minister, has hit the ground running, naming a new cabinet and making his first phone calls to other leaders from 10 Downing Street.

He is the seventh occupant of that address in a decade, an unprecedented period of instability in British politics. As Paul Hosford noted in these pages recently, that level of upheaval is not good for any country, no matter how entertaining it may seem to outsiders such as ourselves.

The revolving cast of prime ministers has been no great boon for relations between Ireland and Britain, but it was notable that one of Burnham’s earliest calls was to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, a chat described by the latter as a “very good discussion on the positive relationship and co-operation between Ireland and the UK.”

It is inevitable that we should focus on what Burnham’s installation means for us, given the cavalier approach to Ireland taken by predecessors such as Boris Johnson.

As a result there was keen interest in the identity of the new secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Chris Bryant. He replaces Hillary Benn, who won few admirers among nationalists in Northern Ireland when appealing against a court order requiring the establishment of a public inquiry into the killing of Sean Brown in 1997.

Bryant has a lively background: Formerly an ordained priest in the Church of England, he has been embroiled in an expenses scandal as an MP and is forthright with his putdowns. He called the disgraced British ex-prince, Andrew, “a rude, arrogant, and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interest, which he said he served, and his own private interest”.

It remains to be seen if Bryant maintains that level of candour as secretary of state. However, if he can improve the relationship between Ireland and Britain, his reticence will be easily forgiven.

Enforcement the real challenge

The long-running debate about social media bans for children and teenagers continues to meander on, and even those with a keen interest in the subject must be wondering if a conclusion, let alone a decision, is in sight.

The latest contribution came from EU commissioner Michael McGrath, with the Cork native saying a decision is expected in autumn to limit access to social media for young people across the EU.

McGrath stated that he favoured a “co-ordinated EU-wide approach to the regulation of social media”, adding that many EU member states had come forward with different initiatives.

However, his most significant observation was on enforcement of the new rules, saying “ . . . how we ensure that our rules are implemented is one that will fall to be considered as part of that.”

Here is the central issue in many areas of modern life. The legislative framework exists, the thinking behind that framework is sound, and the benefits of the legislation are clear. Yet lack of enforcement means none of those benefits are ever seen.

The current discussion on e-scooters is a case in point. Recent statistics from Children’s Health Ireland revealed one to two children a day are presenting at emergency departments with e-scooter injuries, leading to an anguished debate on banning them completely for those aged under 18.

This week we learned that, next month, the Government plans to ban e-scooters for anyone aged under 18, but how will that ban be enforced? If gardaí are to put that ban into
operation, significant extra resources will surely be needed, given how widespread e-scooter use has become across the country.

There is no point in legislating either to ban e-scooters or to limit social media use by children if such legislation cannot be enforced. Otherwise those measures are box-ticking exercises, temporary at best, which do nothing to resolve the real problems involved here.

From tearaway to manager

The death was announced earlier this week of soccer star Kevin Keegan at the age of 75.

Keegan had a lengthy career which went through several distinct phases and dramatic twists.

He was a young tearaway star with Liverpool over 50 years ago but left England at the height of his fame to become an even bigger star in Germany with Hamburg.

Keegan was always commercially savvy — he quadrupled his wages by going to Germany — and endorsed many products, including a commercial partnership with Brut aftershave which led to a famous TV commercial; he wrote newspaper columns and also recorded a top 40 single. He won the Ballon d’Or for the best player in Europe twice, the only Briton to do so, though his World Cup career amounted to just 20 minutes as a substitute in 1982.

Younger readers may remember Keegan more vividly as a manager who always wore his heart on his sleeve, whether resigning as England manager in the Wembley toilets after a defeat by Germany in 2000, or his famous “love it” outburst on live television as the 1995-96 Premier League season drew to a conclusion, with his Newcastle United outmanoeuvred by Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.

What some may have forgotten is that he could have represented the Republic of Ireland as a player. He would have qualified through his grandfather Frank, who emigrated from Ireland to Newcastle. In retrospect, however, Keegan is impossible to separate from the white jersey of England, unmistakable with his era-defining hairstyle. May he rest in peace.