Those fobs again; 'petticoat revolution'; Leo's table of five; Calleary's billet; it won't be a late-late show at the publisher; Mattie gives his side; FG's star search
FORMER JUNIOR minister Máire Hoctor says the new clocking-in system for politicians in Leinster House is a waste of money, seriously lacking in accountability and could be open to misuse.
Hoctor, who represents Tipperary North, was one of two Fianna Fáil members who spoke out about the new system at a recent parliamentary party meeting.
“It cost nearly €27,000 to install, €18,000 of which has already been paid out, but the system is absolutely useless. It’s a waste of money in this day and age when the voting record already shows who is and isn’t attending the Dáil and Seanad,” she says.
TDs are required to register their daily attendance by swiping a fob through one of the electronic readers placed around the building. The device looks like a remote control gizmo for locking a car. Parliamentarians are only required to register once a day, meaning they don’t have to clock out. Hoctor is angry because the system was introduced after “little or no consultation” with party members by colleagues on the Oireachtas commission.
“This is seriously lacking in accountability. Who is monitoring it?” she asks, pointing out that members could clock each other in, or ask members of their staff to do it for them, if they wanted to. While she doesn’t believe this to be the case, the possibility is there.
“I don’t have any difficulty being in Leinster House at all and I’ve been using the system since it was introduced the other week. But if my voting record, which is excellent, was checked, it would show my attendance just as well.”
However, this wouldn’t cover those days when the House isn’t sitting or there are no votes. Politicians from all sides seem rather bemused by the process. “What’s to stop a carload of fobs travelling up with someone from Kerry or Cork or down from Donegal?” asked one deputy. “Look at the size of the thing, it’s tiny and you only have to swipe it once a day. Sure anyone could do it and nobody would be any the wiser.”
It’s a start, though.
Ladies in red do nothing for Séamus, allegedly
The Leinster House women have been getting very aggressive of late. Kathleen Lynch gave the Ceann Comhairle an unmerciful handbagging a couple of weeks ago when she accused him of ignoring her and wondered was it because she is female, or female and a member of the Labour Party.
On Thursday, her colleague Joan Burton returned to the theme, just as poor Séamus Kirk was getting over Kathleen’s attack.
“I remind the Ceann Comhairle that there are fewer than 14 per cent women in this House. He is happy to recognise the men in this house, but not the women, for speaking purposes.” Gentle Séamus protested.
“I will defend my right as a woman to speak!” thundered Joan as Séamus emitted a feeble, conciliatory squawk. “I will not be talked down to the Ceann Comhairle! I will be recognised by the Ceann Comhairle in the same way as male colleagues are recognised!”
“Yes,” quivered poor Séamus.
“I wear the colour red these days so that when the Ceann Comhairle looks up he might see me.”
“Wear a high-visibility vest!” roared Mattie McGrath.
Kirk was looking a bit red himself. Joan accused him of having “a serious problem of male onset blankness in relation to women in the Labour Party.”
Séamus: “Oh Deputy, please, please.”
And on it went.
It wasn’t much better in the Seanad, where House leader Donie Cassidy was taken to task by female Senators who had been expecting a debate on women in politics. “Anything with a feminist ring to it is put to the end of the agenda,” complained Ger Feeney (FF), summing up the mood.
Then, at the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, Lucinda Creighton put a spanner in Inda’s wheeze to impose quotas for female candidates running for the party. Backed by a sizeable number of female colleagues, she successfully argued against such a move and defeated the party leadership’s proposal after demanding a show of hands.
Afterwards, the vote was called a “mini- rebellion” by one member. Another, a male deputy, told us about “the petticoat revolution”. We will not be revealing his name in deference to his personal safety, although it was a temptation hard to resist.
Heading back North with an extra passenger
British ambassador Julian King hosted a dinner in Glencairn recently for his first secretary, Richard Cushnie, who is returning to the Northern Ireland office after four years of service in Dublin.
He followed up with a less formal farewell bash for the departing diplomat, held upstairs in Neary’s bar on Dublin’s Chatham Street – a very convenient venue for the many politicians and media types who ambled over from Leinster House for the evening.
Richard was a familiar figure around the House over the years, shepherding the many visiting delegations from across the water on their trips to the Irish parliament. His duties also required him to pitch up at the various party conferences – this year’s political merry-go-round kicked off last week with the Sinn Féin Ardfheis and continues next week with Fine Gael’s conference in Killarney, followed by the Green Party in Waterford and then Labour in Galway.
At least Richard will be spared that particular chore.
During their time here, Richard and his wife Aisling had their first child Evie, who is now two years old. “We’re very sad to be leaving Dublin, as we enjoyed it tremendously here. I’ll miss the staff at the Dáil, particularly the ushers, who made us feel very welcome during our visits,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil hasn’t made any decision about its ardfheis – the party has a lot on its plate at the moment and its likely it will wait until autumn for the annual gathering of the troops.
One rule for them and another for the rest of us The very highest standards are expected of our elected representatives. It’s no fun being a TD, when the critical eye of the public is always on the lookout for evidence of skulduggery.
We received a call during the week from an angry citizen who was deeply shocked by an incident he witnessed last Friday night in Dublin West. Naturally, he telephoned the paper of record to furnish details of the atrocity, which occurred in the course of a table quiz at Castleknock Lawn Tennis Club.
It was a well-supported event and keenly contested. The rules stipulated that teams should comprise four members or fewer. Among those taking part was Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar, who had five people on his team.
“And they won by a point!” spluttered our incandescent confidant. “There’s one rule for the rest of us and a different one for them!”
We put this very serious allegation to Deputy Varadkar in Leinster House yesterday, who admitted the charge. “First prize was four cheap bottles of wine – I’ll send them back if you like.” The whistleblower insisted on remaining anonymous and, despite numerous requests, would supply neither name nor cumann address.
Rising star Dara is already in high office
Minister of State Dara Calleary is seen as one of the rising stars in Fianna Fáil, and it appears that he occupies offices befitting a young man on the fast track.
At least according to Mary O’Rourke, who noted recently in the Dáil that the Mayo deputy “occupies an office that I once occupied – the nicest office in town, if the truth be known”. Junior Minister at the Department of Enterprise Calleary took one look at the former minister and declared: “I’m not saying anything.”
So we contacted him for the lowdown on his billet in Davitt House on leafy Adelaide Road.
“It’s pretty nice, in fairness, but I’m not there that often as it’s too far away from the Dáil,” he tells us. “It’s huge, like a feckin’ football pitch, with lots of big windows and lovely light.”
When Mary was in situ, she made full use of the space – her annual drinks reception for female parliamentarians put Hyacinth Bucket’s legendary candlelit suppers to shame. Of course, when the lads moved in, they let the place go.
“Nothing much has been done since Mary did it up,” admits Dara. “Think early-70s decor, lots of MDF dressed up as wood, that sort of thing. I think Billy [Kelleher, his predecessor] dechintzed it a bit. But all the same, it’s a lovely office and I thank Mary for her input into creating it,” he says graciously.
Mind you, were Biffo to give him the nod in the forthcoming reshuffle, young Calleary would abandon his expansive office (and the half car that comes with it) in a thrice.
Tubridy promises behind-the-scenes look
Broadcaster Ryan Tubridy is a busy man these days. He was working away on his book about JFK's visit to Ireland when he was handed the Late Late Showgig and all that entails. Since then, he's struggled to find the time to get into the National Library and complete his research, but the end is now in sight.
We met him outside Leinster House as he was on his way into the library next door to finish "the mopping-up process" after 18 months of work. "The manuscript is due into Harper Collins UK in four weeks time, with the publication date set for November 5th, which is the 50th anniversary of JFK's election," he told us. The book, imaginatively titled JFK in Ireland, is "a close study of the shenanigans behind the scenes" at the time of the 1963 visit.
Meanwhile, Tubridy’s radio show on Monday yielded the quote of the week during a discussion on growing old in Ireland. Among those contributing was former assistant Garda commissioner Martin Donnellan and internationally renowned singing teacher Veronica Dunne. As the item drew to a close, the presenter read some text messages from listeners, including: “My aunt looked after her dad until she was 65, then went on holidays where she met a man and fell in love. They married and she proudly lost her virginity at 67 years old.”
Whereupon the magnificent Dunne (82) exclaimed: “Oh my God, she must have returned unopened!”
Young Ryan nearly choked. “P-p-pardon, Veronica?” he spluttered, as a geriatrician talked on the phone about “the political importance of social connectivity” and the broadcaster, the ex-policeman and the national treasure giggled helplessly in the background.
The Battle of Donohill – revisited
In last week’s column , we reported the standoff in the Tipperary village of Donohill when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael booked the local hall on the same date for respective AGMs. In that account, the Blueshirts prevailed on the night, sending the Soldiers of Destiny packing to one of the two Fine Gael pubs in the village.
But Mattie McGrath of Tipperary South wants to set the record straight. “What really happened was we adjourned to a safe house across the road from the Fine Gael pubs. Sally Ryan’s house – she’s chairwoman of the Old IRA committee,” he explains.
After their meeting, the FFers repaired to Heffernan’s pub (also known as Connies), but it seems some of the Blueshirts had been in earlier, because wasn’t one of Mattie’s clinic posters “torn to pieces on the floor”. Also in his company was councillor Joe Donovan, aka the Mighty Man from Aherlow. They were subsequently joined by Fine Gael councillor Mary Ryan Hanna because McGrath says all the parties get on very well in Tipperary.
Anyway, says Mattie, they left Heffernans to go to Crosses pub, owned by councillor John Crosse (FG). The reason for this, he explained, is that a TD visiting a village is expected to “call into all the pubs”. However, they couldn’t gain access to Crosses, despite the fact that Ryan Hanna had left her keys inside. Now this left Mattie in a bit of a quandary, as he “had to bring big Joe back over the mountains to Aherlow”. So he instructed Vinnie Ryan (walk-on part, FF) to drive Mary (FG) back home. “I wouldn’t leave a damsel in distress, especially a Fine Gael one,” says Mattie. But there’s “no hard feelings” he says, adding: “It’s not finished yet.” It is for this column. Bring in Kieran Mulvey if there’s an escalation.
Fine Gael still smitten with celeb economists
Fine Gael’s Denis Naughton has been appointed to former deputy George Lee’s job in the party. But is FG still in search of an economic superstar? We hear David McWilliams and Karl Whelan were wheeled out before the parliamentary party on Tuesday night to say a few words about the economy.