The Brother plays lead role in farce

DAIL SKETCH:MYLES NA gCopaleen, no stranger to political machinations given his years as a civil servant, would have felt at home in the Dáil yesterday.

The Brother, a character made famous by the acerbic Myles, was an apt title for the order of business drama. The principal character, Minister of State Conor Lenihan, brother of Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, was not present. But he played a starring role in his absence, as his earlier interview on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland about the budget was raised by the Opposition.

Later in the day, the Aunt, Mary O’Rourke, who has her Lenihan nephews’ occasional independent streak, played a central role in the resumed debate on the Murphy report on clerical sex abuse in Dublin.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore was first to refer to the Brother when he raised the public sector pay talks. “This morning we had an extraordinary situation whereby the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, who was presumably acting as a proxy for his brother, was on radio contradicting the position which was set out by the Taoiseach in the House yesterday,’’ he said.

Gilmore evoked images of devious Lenihan-inspired moves within the Cabinet.

“We seem to have two positions: one announced by the Taoiseach yesterday, and a second announced by proxy on behalf of the Minister for Finance this morning,’’ he declared.

He challenged Tánaiste Mary Coughlan to say whether Brian Cowen’s position represented the Government’s view. “The Taoiseach represents the Government,’’ replied Coughlan.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny pressed the Tánaiste to say whether the Government would fix the agenda for the budget, “which is six days hence’’ – or would it drag matters out interminably? Budget matters, said Coughlan, were for discussion among Ministers, and “not matters for discussion on the public airwaves’’.

Labour’s Pat Rabbitte traced matters back to the Brother. “Tell that to Conor Lenihan,’’ he said.

On the resumption of the Murphy report debate, the Aunt spoke in typically forthright terms when she focused on the role of the papal nuncio and the authorities in Rome.

She strongly criticised the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the nuncio for failing to reply to the commission.

“This wonderful doctrine body, wherever it is, does not reply to letters,’’ said Mary O’Rourke.

“Consider the discourtesy of it, and the discourtesy of the head of the Vatican, parading around Ireland in his wonderful glitzy clothes, but not replying to letters and not seeing fit to talk to his counterpart . . . whoever that is.’’ She was taking a very different line from Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who defended the Vatican and the nuncio in the House on Tuesday.

The Aunt also criticised the church’s views on contraception and divorce, warning that it was doomed to failure unless it showed affinity with ordinary people and their problems.

The formidable Lenihans cast a long shadow over Irish politics.