Shinners gild lily as Martin's cabinet a shadow of its former self

DÁIL SKETCH:IN REMEMBRANCE of our patriot dead, Sinn Féin launched its Easter lily campaign on the Leinster House plinth yesterday.

Fianna Fáil would give anything for an Easter Lily. Not to mention a Rose or a Violet, or any woman, for that matter, who might help them forget their political dead.

But by the time party leader Micheál Martin took to the plinth with his new front bench, Gerry Adams and his crew had left, taking their lilies with them. Such a pity. Fianna Fáil’s locker room badly needs a female presence.

Once, they were the Soldiers of Destiny. Now they are the Testosterone Troops. The fragrance is gone. All that remains is a whiff of porter and Woodbines.

Nonetheless, they are a fine body of men in suits. The Testosterone Troops represent “a balance of experience and fresh perspectives”, said Micheál of his small group of war-torn survivors and blinking greenhorns.

He unveiled the new front bench – his second in 10 weeks – with a minimum of fanfare. It’s not like he was spoilt for choice. With a mere 20 deputies in his parliamentary party, Micheál had to give all his TDs a job, whether he wanted to or not and whether they wanted one or not.

The glaring lack of any female deputies in his coterie was immediately seized upon by the media. “That’s a decision of the electorate,” said Deputy Martin, with a sigh. “We are where we are.” He is hoping that the lack of gender balance in the parliamentary party will be addressed after the Seanad election. He wants Fianna Fáil representatives to vote for his recommended candidates as the party attempts to broaden its profile “in terms of youth, and indeed, some women candidates as well”. Any females who make it through are guaranteed big jobs. But not in his shadow cabinet, so-called because the party is a shadow of its former self.

In fairness to Micheál, he has to work with what he has. Enda Kenny made the same argument during Leaders’ Questions; not on personnel but in terms of the economy. As the Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin leaders tackled him over rising ECB interest rates and the EU-IMF deal, Enda protested: “Obviously, the hand of cards that we’ve been left with is not as good as we would wish, but you’ve gotta play them in the best order in which you decide, in the interests of the people and the country.”

Micheál gave him a sour look. Earlier, while parading the Testosterone Troops, he said he was sick of listening to the Government’s economic spin. “They’re spinning all over it . . . everything is everyone else’s fault,” he complained.

Speaking of which, the Taoiseach did some neat spinning when insisting his Government intended to bring in “a jobs initiative” next month, as opposed to “a jobs budget”, as some people want to call it.

Opposition TDs reacted with derision to Enda’s bout of amnesia. Here’s what his Minister Richard Bruton had to say last Friday: “The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have said the jobs budget will be in May and we are working to that deadline.” Meanwhile, Sinn Féin was delighted that the technical group of Independent TDs and socialists is to be protected by the Government. They issued a press release: “Adams welcomes Taoiseach’s commitment to Revolutionary Quarter.” (It didn’t look that way to us when an usher was sent to tell Mick Wallace to remove a folded newspaper from the bench in front of him. He complied, looking very bemused.) But no. The Revolutionary Quarter is the area of Dublin associated with the 1916 Rising, and in particular, buildings on Moore Street “where the leaders of 1916 last met before the surrender”. Not long to go to the centenary of the Easter Rising. Sinn Féin will be ready.

“The leaders of the 1916 Rising did not die for the EU or the IMF. They died for a united, free Ireland where all the children are cherished equally,” said Gerry, launching the lily.

It’s going to be a long five years.