Bertie and Maurice Ahern were criticised this week for hijacking the Dublin premiere of Eric Cantona’s new film for a photo op with the star – but the brothers were merely honouring an age-old tradition
A “CHEAP INTERVENTION” is how director Ken Loach described the moment when Bertie Ahern and his brother Maurice, a Fianna Fáil candidate in the Dublin Central by-election, popped up at the Dublin premiere of his film Looking for Eric. It seemed like a clean hit: the smiling pair presented a rather bemused-looking Eric Cantona with a No 7 Dublin shirt, a picture was taken, the job was done. Afterwards, Ken Loach was unsparing in his scorn, accusing Bertie of trying to hijack the event for political ends. Perhaps it would have looked a little less brazen if the Ahern brothers had stuck around for the film itself, but canvassing pressures meant they had to make a speedy departure.
The glitter of reflected glory is irresistible to politicians. They love nothing more than piggy-backing on the achievements of others – usually victorious sporting heroes, or charismatic rock stars – and the canniest of them will always be on the lookout for a way to sidle up to a star, however blatant it may appear. So what are the most brazen attempts by politicians to trade on borrowed glamour?
Haughey wins Le Tour
In 1987, when Stephen Roche became the first Irishman to win the Tour de France, taoiseach Charles Haughey was waiting at the finish line on the Champs Élysées, primed to offer his very public congratulations and to join a tearful Roche on the winners’ podium, as a French military band struck up Amhrán na bhFiann. Looking at the pictures today, if it wasn’t for the yellow jersey, you would be hard pressed to guess who had actually won the race.
Tony Blair goes pop
The notoriously image-conscious former British prime minister Tony Blair was keen to link his New Labour agenda to the 1990s “Cool Britannia” generation of Britpop singers, actors and fashion designers, and a Downing Street drinks reception swiftly followed. Blair was pictured getting matey over a glass of champagne with Noel Gallagher of Oasis. But the shimmer of mutual entrancement soon wore off, and a disillusioned Gallagher later slammed New Labour as “ Tories dressed in red”.
From hero to zero
As Tony Blair found out, the worlds of pop and politics make an uncomfortable fit. But that doesn’t stop politicians appropriating popular songs during election campaigns. All too often, it doesn’t quite work out as planned, as in the case of Republican US presidential candidate John McCain, who borrowed the Foo Fighters song My Hero to play at rallies.
The band – led by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl – rushed to distance themselves, stating sniffily that “the saddest thing about this is that My Hero was written as a celebration of the common man . . . To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.”
Hitler’s gold run
As the host nation’s head of state, Adolf Hitler didn’t miss the drama-laden moment before the 1936 Olympic flame was lit to score a propaganda coup for his regime. “Sporting, chivalrous contest helps knit the bonds of peace between nations,” he told the 110,000 spectators. “Therefore may the Olympic flame never expire.”
Hijacking Kate
What if you want to borrow the glamour of a movie star, but you just can’t get close to one? Simple – just cut out a picture. Well, perhaps not. Earlier this year, Nick Clegg, leader of the British Liberal Democrats, was embarrassed when it emerged that his party used a photo of an Oscar-winning actress for an advert in its conference brochure – without obtaining her permission. Winslet is pictured looking tremulous on a red carpet, with signs reading “Lib Dem Council Awards” rather awkwardly superimposed into position behind her, and the slogan “winning can be emotional!” Legal sources said the actor would have a case to sue the Lib Dems for passing off a false endorsement.
Silvio at the centre
Hijacking public events for political gain requires a significant amount of bullish chutzpah, something Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has in excess. Seizing control of a photocall at the recent G20 meeting, he even used a couple of world leaders as props. At the last moment, he leapt in behind US president Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitri Medvedev, pulled them passionately together, and gave a big grin for the camera. As body-language expert Peter Bull observed at the time, “here we have two of the most powerful men in the world and [Berlsuconi] is in the middle. It’s very dominant. It’s like he’s saying, ‘look at me, I can encompass Russia and America in one grasp.’ It’s incredibly presumptuous.”