LIFE AFTER LEINSTER HOUSE:Pat Carey concedes salaries and termination payments for TDs and ministers grew to unacceptable levels, writes MICHAEL O'REGAN
PAT CAREY believes that the survival of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael could be challenged in the long-term.
“I think that in the next 15 years or so, there will be a splintering of the old-style parties and the emergence of more parties in the social and Christian democrat mould as in the rest of Europe.’’
He is adamant that Fine Gael will face the same challenges as Fianna Fáil, despite its impressive general election performance.
“We are both catch-all parties with no difference in policy. Enda Kenny is charismatic and a good organiser but the party’s current strength will not last.’’
Fianna Fáil’s best chance of survival, he believes, is if it moves into a centre-left space.
“That has been abandoned by Labour and the party will get a ferocious hammering in the next election whether it deserves it or not.”
Carey blames the absence of effective regulatory procedures on the sharp economic decline under Fianna Fáil-led governments.
“When the property bubble was at its height, we were constantly told that young people could not get a house and on to the property ladder.
“I remember my then constituency colleague and minister of state for housing, Noel Ahern, saying at party meetings that it would all come crashing down because of the massive borrowings caused by 100 per cent mortgages.”
He retains, he says, a strong admiration for former taoiseach Brian Cowen who appointed him to the cabinet.
“I know it is not fashionable to say it now, but Brian Cowen is a guy of unbelievable commitment and great intellect.
“He worried himself sick about what was happening. Perhaps he should have done a state of the nation address early on.”
He concedes that salaries and termination payments for TDs and ministers grew to levels unacceptable to the public.
“It happened for the best of motives, with the idea being you paid politicians sufficiently well to discourage the brown envelope culture.
“When I started as a TD, my salary was not much more than a teacher. You would not go into politics for the money.”
Carey (63) who lost his seat in Dublin North West, will not contest any more elections.
He says he intended serving just one more term if he was elected. “I think if you are elected in your 20s, you should be gone by 55. I was 50 when I was elected.
I always believed that you should move careers, if you can, every 10 or 12 years.”
He says he will remain active in Fianna Fáil if he is asked. “I am not going to wander into meetings and give wise nuggets which I think might be wise and everybody else thinks foolish.”
Carey, a native of Kerry and formerly a national teacher in Finglas, north Dublin, says he knew it would be difficult to get re-elected but thought he might just shade it.
“I knew by early afternoon on polling day that the game was up. I used three or four polling stations as a litmus test. You observe people voting and how they are looking at you.”
Carey, who served as a minister of state with responsibility for drug strategy and community affairs, government chief whip and, finally, minister for community, equality and Gaeltacht affairs, found the loss of his seat difficult in the early days.
“You go from handling anything up to three meetings daily, and the phone constantly ringing, to nothing happening. However, there were long-time friends who suggested coffee or lunch.
“You can manage a certain number of hours in the day. It is the afternoon, when the news programmes finish around a quarter-to-two that is difficult. You are then waiting for RTÉ’s Drivetime to start.”
Carey has become active in a number of organisations, rejoining the Institute of International and European Affairs and becoming a member of the board of the development agency Connect Ethiopia and the board of the Cill Rialaig artists’ colony project in Kerry.
“I loved politics and being busy, but people tell me that I look 10 years younger since losing my seat.”
He is adamant there is life after politics. “I have decided I’m going to learn to swim. I have taken up cycling. I am doing an IT course and reconnecting with friends.”
Constituency: Dublin North West
First elected:1997
D áil service:14 years
Current status: Retired