More body blows against PDs and the Haugheys

The storm clouds are gathering for the PDs much more quickly than any of us expected. The resignation of Dick Sadlier of Limerick who referred to Des O'Malley's "unbridled arrogance" was bad enough. Indeed, his remarks touched a chord with many Fian na Failers who apparently are extremely annoyed at O'Malley's public outbursts over the last while.

The PDs entered into a damage-limitation exercise trying the usual tricks: stating that he only made his comments in the public media and not at party meetings and that he was one of the strongest opponents of a PD/ Fianna Fail pact in the recent byelection in Limerick. Sadlier was undeterred and was a frequent contributor to the media, so much so that Drapier wondered would he shortly be announcing his alignment with Fianna Fail.

A real body blow to the PDs (and something not as widely publicised as the Sadlier tiff) was the resignation of their national organiser Garvan McGinley who had been one of the more impressive handlers attached to the PDs in the recent past. He apparently is resigning to run a family hotel and the best of luck to him, but his going certainly is grave news for Mary Harney's party. It is never wise to write a political obituary, but the PDs must be in grave danger of extinction after the next election.

The Government will say that the silly season is upon us again with the cranking up of the public service pay demands. The unions will say it is their right to claim better terms for their members. Hot on the heels of the Garda offer comes a demand from Senator Joe O'Toole representing the national teachers that they now are entitled to increased wages. The Government spokesman was quickly out to rubbish this. Joe O'Toole looked very well on the 9 p.m. news during the week speaking from the deck of a massive motor boat. Drapier assumes that Joe must have been on holiday but feels that he could have picked a better location to do the interview.

The magnificent surroundings might suggest to Joe Public that teachers, particularly those who happen to be senators as well, are doing fine for themselves.

The Government must be worried that the building up of expectations will ultimately be the "crown of thorns" that will damage it. The Garda offer together with a massive tax surplus (above expectations) suggest that the general public doesn't need to be mathematicians to work out that the good times are upon us.

Charlie McCreevy was out quickly to quash any further demands by stating that the Government would not countenance any more. Drapier wonders if this shadow-boxing could spell the end of social partnership as we know it. He feels the whole idea of social partnership was easy to sell to all the interests in times of trouble, but that now that the good times are rolling, the Government particularly may find it difficult to sell the idea into the future.

Drapier noticed this week that Sile de Valera announced her plans in relation to digital television. That got most of the news but also slipped in was the abolition of the 3 per cent levy which had been imposed previously by the IRTC on local radio stations. Drapier thinks this is an extremely smart move by the Government in that all the local radio stations had lobbied extremely hard for this to be done away with, particularly before the last general election.

The Government and particularly Fianna Fail obviously see the local radio sector as the crowd to make up to.

Drapier was surprised to read in the papers during the week that Jim McDaid as Minister for Tourism was proposing to bring in a "pay-as-you-visit" tax on visitors. Drapier's view is that Jim seems to have a knack of being controversial, or maybe he does this on purpose, maybe he likes to live close the edge.

While the Government may have made a wise decision in abolishing the local radio station levy, Drapier would warn it to tread warily on any such proposal that was mooted by Mr McDaid. It might be a nice way of raising money, but the country could be accused of being very unfriendly to tourists and the Opposition will have a field day if it goes through.

Perhaps the most dramatic news of the week is the serving of summonses on Charles Haughey, but we shouldn't have been surprised as Mr Justice McCracken in his report was scathing about Mr Haughey. There has always been a view that public figures would never be made subject to the full rigours of the law and perhaps, over the years, there was some justification for that view.

Some leading figures in the media have been asking very pointedly what had been happening with the McCracken recommendations on this topic and the spotlight was very much on the DPP as to what he would do.

Mr Haughey is awaiting a judgment in his challenge to the powers of tribunals and maybe this might have some bearing on the summonses issued: only time will tell. All in all the latest news is yet another body blow to the Haughey name. Drapier had noted that there was a tendency among people in recent times to have sympathy for him. It will be interesting to see how the latest events will affect this.

Drapier noticed this week that Nell McCafferty was one of the contributors to a conference on the theme of Lonely Women Politicians. Drapier feels this is yet another example to show how men have lost out in recent years. Is there no one out there who thinks men can be lonely, too? There are no conferences organised for men in this regard. Maybe no one cares - particularly the man!