Return of Mr O'Dea a strange move from a man hellbent on putting distance between old and new Fianna Fáil, writes MIRIAM LORD
NOBODY BUYS it as a cabinet.
Or even a front bench.
It’s a whatnot – little more than a curiosity piece to spark some interest until the election is over for Fianna Fáil.
Only then can Micheál Martin set about putting his house in order. (Presuming he’ll be returned to Leinster House by the voters of Cork South Central.) The party leader introduced his new line-up yesterday by walking them down the plinth to meet the media. Had it not been for the controversial recall of Willie O’Dea to first-team duties, the event would have drowned in indifference.
This is what happens when power ebbs away. Martin’s supposedly daring injection of the inexperienced and the unelected into the front rank looked like an irrelevance. He “promoted” eight people with no ministerial experience, including one Senator, two county councillors and an unelected ministerial adviser.
“This is a new way of doing politics – the old ways aren’t going to suffice anymore,” he said.
No, they won’t, not when the party is collapsing around your ears.
A new way, stressed Micheál, as Averil Power – the unelected one – stood beside him in the front row. But behind him, those familiar panda eyes of Brian Lenihan stared into the camera and behind Brian, a familiar moustache bristled once more in the top flight.
The inclusion of Micheál’s good friend, former minister O’Dea, was a strange move from a man who appears hellbent on putting as much distance as he can between Fianna Fáil now and Fianna Fáil past. Party leader Martin explained that Willie is one of the “most talented people in Leinster House” and “he’s enjoyed a huge mandate from the people of Limerick”. That last bit made the hopefuls donutting around their leader laugh. Because after all the high falutin’ talk, it’s all about votes.
Mary Hanafin will be hoping her accession to the role of deputy leader will assist her re-election efforts in the Dún Laoghaire Group of Death.
Standing to one side of her was Mary Coughlan, former deputy leader, putting a brave face on things.
Micheál tried valiantly to convince everyone that “the old rules” are out the window, but for all the talk of “a new way”, he is playing the election game with the rest of them.
His curious assortment of old-school and no-school politicians was all about selling a different sort of party to the people. Bringing back Willie O’Dea rather dented that aim.
Meanwhile, beneath the surface, the organisation is doing what it can to bump candidates off tickets and impose them on others in order to minimise damage.
Who is Averil Power? She is an adviser to Mary Hanafin and was an unsuccessful candidate for Fianna Fáil in Dublin in the local elections. Her website crashed yesterday afternoon with the weight of people trying to find out who she is.
Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick is better known, thanks to her dogged ability to survive in Dublin Central against Bertie Ahern’s Drumcondra mafia. She is the Fianna Fáil frontrunner in the constituency now and may be viewed slightly more benignly by the electorate as a result of her travails against the St Luke’s set.
Then there is Cllr Jim O’Callaghan, inexplicably dragged along to the plinth in his capacity as new legal adviser to the front bench and definite FF choice for attorney general – if they had a hope of getting back into government.
Micheál said he didn’t consult the Taoiseach about his decisions.
“He wants me to be free in terms of anything I do.” Just as Brian Cowen, despite the pleadings from his local constituency, wanted to be free in terms of anything he wanted to do. Micheál didn’t answer yesterday afternoon when asked if the Taoiseach intended to continue in politics.
That little conundrum was solved last night when Cowen told his local radio station, Midlands 103, that he would not contest the election.
You can’t blame him, but it means woe heaped upon electoral woe for Fianna Fáil.
There was a time, not so long ago, when deputies would have been fighting over the spoils, eager for advancement. There are many whom Micheál Martin could have chosen to elevate – not to mention those who supported his leadership bid. Where once the noise of bellyaching from the passed-over would have been deafening, they were strangely quiet this time.
Not bothered, really.
As for the new team, they didn’t exactly looked thrilled either.
Still. There is hope for the nation.
What about the junior ministers? “The junior ministers are still in office and continuing to work,” confirmed Micheál.
Oh, thank God. We are in safe hands.
The general election begins today.
About bloody time. Hooray!