Politician of the Year – Part 2 of 2

This is part two of a political review of 2011, prompted by interference of government in everyday economic and social life as it struggles to balance the budget and deal with the banking crisis.

First up today, a few spot prizes

Blogger of the Year: with the expansion of the internet, it is still surprising to see this tool under-used by politicians – maybe political success still derives from knocking on peoples’ doors. Or maybe party politicians rely on the party machine for press. Gerry Adams was an early adopter of blogging and his leargas blog continues to stand out for its personal and political commentary. You’d expect the Independents to rely most on the internet given the lack of party support and funding, but apart from Stephen Donnelly there’s very little of note from the others..

Bogger of the Year: Luke “Ming” Flanagan for services to the turbary sector, though some local constituents in Roscommon suggest there’s more than ferns growing on Ming’s plot

Vicky Pollard (“Yeah but, no but, sumatanothin”) award for talking utter bullsh*t at high speed: Damien English for a number of contributions; this would be representative of the usual standard from the Vincent Browne show on 10th February “[Damien, if Fine Gael forms part of the next government, will Fine Gael assume this loss and get the rest of us to pay for it?] No, Fine Gael have very clearly said that we’re not putting any more money into banks until some sort of burden-sharing arrangement is reached, it’s as simple as that. Before these figures that NAMA put out yesterday and today, and these other figures we have now tonight as well, the discussion still over the €25bn, you know, whether we commit that or not. Fine Gael has said even with that figure we’re not, that money should not go into the banks until some form of arrangement is , that there is burden sharing or some other way so you don’t crystallise the losses, we are against  the notion of fire-saling of assets because you’re crystallising the losses, people have said that, you’re going to have more losses coming to the front if you sell off these assets [which assets are you talking about?] the assets of the banks, and the various loans, some of their assets are quite good like tracker loans and so on. One of the notions that we put to Europe consider using the assets and the loan money against the assets and hopefully some of these assets will not crystallise losses in the future, they might turn into-, there might be less of a loss there but you still have to, you have to find ways to prevent putting in tax-payers money now because we can’t afford it, and we’re unwilling to commit it there”

Windbag of the Year: Mary O’Rourke for her contribution to the crucial debate on the 2011 Finance Bill (that was the Fianna Fail/Green Party bill to enact the measures announced in Budget 2011 in December 2010). There had been bitter exchanges across the Dail beforehand about the time allocated to debating the Finance Bill. So you might have expected every contribution to the debate itself to have been pithy, well-considered and above all, relevant. Here was Mary’s 15-minute ramble about life in general and the joy of geriatric sex in particular.

Dail Etiquette

When An Taoiseach Jack Lynch went to meet Margaret Thatcher inDowning Streetin 1979, he wore a top hat. That was 30 years ago, but still, it gives you an idea of the formality of attire in politics. In 2011, the notion of traditional attire in the Dail was challenged as a raft of Independents and left-wingers swept into position. We had a reminder from across theIrish Seain August 2011 of how much our dress codes had changed when the Prime Minister David Cameron expressed displeasure towards a jacketless member of parliament.

Back here. TDs like Richard “even my jim-jams have epaulettes” Boyd Barrett and Mick “in 1997 I left a red sock in the wash with my whites and I’m not a man to waste good clothes” Wallace were amongst a number that ignored the traditional dress code of a jacket and tie for male TDs. It wasn’t just the men though as Mary Lou “are YOU staring at my cleavage. And why NOT?” McDonald demonstrated. And looking around the chamber, you couldn’t help but notice the transformation in character of the national parliament. Even Mattie McGrath’s loosened tie, Stephen Donnelly’s tie-less open-shirt neck, Gerry Adams’ rolled-up sleeves or cast-off jacket somehow diminished the traditional standing of the chamber,.

Does it affect a politician’s integrity, honesty, hard-work or cleverness? Of course it doesn’t, but it’s not about the individual politician’s qualities, it’s about the perception of respect they have for their audience of constituents, both locally and nationally. Being a “man of the people” – and it is mostly men that flout the tradition – shouldn’t mean that the Dail is not treated as a place of business. You can’t help notice the contrast between chartered accountant and banking expert Peter Mathews who straightens up, humbles his demeanour and bows in the direction of Ceann Comhairle when he leaves the chamber and on the other hand Richard Boyd Barrett who bounds down from the back-seats, hunches his back like a threatened stray moggy and scowls at An Ceann Comhairle as if to say “what are you looking at, mush”

Outside the Dail, well just as Samantha Cameron sports a dolphin tattoo, standards are different and I can’t imagine Richard Boyd Barrett at the head of an anti-austerity march orchestrating the mantra “they say cutback – we say fight back!” with a shirt and tie.

Gaeilge

2011 was the year that Labhar as Gaeilge became a common feature in the Dail. Previously, in common debate, we’d have the very odd sentence or words spoken in the mother tongue, but from 15th March, Gerry Adams made a point of slipping in a few sentences in Leaders Questions which somehow felt natural. On that first day, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny responded in English but the next Leaders’ Questions on 22nd March, Enda was ready for the novelty and responded in fluent yet somehow laboured Irish, as if there was a tussle as to who could be more Irish. Apart from Gerry Adams versus Enda Kenny exchanges however, there is little sign of the language establishing a foothold in the chamber.

Which in some ways is a pity; because you’ll notice that when Irish is spoken, the ya-boo shouting matches fall silent. My theory is that most TDs are either so rusty in speaking Irish that they have to listen attentively to understand what is being said, or otherwise they have practically no idea what is being said and don’t want to appear stupid by guffawing at the wrong word.

I have a feeling though that the use of Irish in the Dail will slowly increase. Which might mean intensive language classes for some TDs, unless there’s a decision to invest in simultaneous translation.

Politician of the Year

And so finally we come to the award itself. The introduction to yesterday’s blogpost outlined the difficulties in assessing performance but here’s the namechecking of some of the decent performers during the year. There are a number of Young-Turk FG and Labour backbenchers who have publicly demonstrated considerable communications skill, possibly the best example is Paschal Donohoe for his performance on the Vincent Browne show where he puts you in mind of the piggy with the brick house – Vincent can huff and puff, and in Joan and Connor’s cases he blew their houses down and bear-baited accusations of haranguing or threats to back off, but Paschal gives direct answers which blend humility and strength together; it’s very entertaining but the serious point is that Paschal can deal with the wiliest of inquisitors. Pearse Doherty for his national work-rate and promoting alternative economic strategies; he still has a ways to go, because even at the end of 2011, many would regard Sinn Fein’s economic strategy as “hare-brained”; unfair perhaps, but that is a challenge to overcome. Michael McGrath has bucked the trend in what seems like a party suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and he has produced a couple of useful bills on personal insolvency and financial regulation, and it might be with such initiatives that Fianna Fail regains some ground. Michael Noonan is practically the most experienced politician in the Dail by reference to the length of his career and the posts he has held and given the poor hand of cards he has been dealt, has probably done far better than might have been expected; still we are facing into years of austerity and arguably an unsustainable burden. Gerry Adams delivered his party to its best ever showing in the Dail, and it no longer looks like the Peoples Front of Judea at the amphitheatre – more like the Judean Peoples Front; the problem is that he has looked too statesmanlike when debating trolley issues in the local hospital and seems to lack the instinct for the cut-and-thrust, parry-and-riposte nature of Dail politics though leading his party out of the Dail on 2nd November was the political highlight of the year. Peter Mathews campaigned as a Fine Gael candidate and he became a FG TD, he claims he has had lots of private chats with senior ministers but somehow the pre-election “Peter Mathews, Banking Expert” seems to be struggling to find traction in this administration. Joe Higgins and the United Left Alliance politicians should be gaining more ground in opposition to unpopular austerity, and the policies of a centrist coalition but they need improve the quality of their alternatives – a good example is the proposal for a wealth tax, which will probably be necessary but it will need be based on facts not aspirations; see Seamus Coffey’s most excellent blogpost to see the difficulties and information deficit which will hamper proposals. An Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett has had a successful year as he patiently chairs the business in the chamber, and if you listen very very very carefully you’ll hear most of his interventions have an almost silent sequitur – “ye little pup, ye” The four TDs on the naughty step, having lost the party whip, Denis Naughten who voted against the closure of Roscommon A&E, Willie Penrose over the closure of Columb barracks in Mullingar, Tommy Broughan who voted against extending the bank guarantee and Patrick Nulty who voted against Budget 2012 all deserve a mention because they voted in line with commitments or principle; it is a shame that a party whip system automatically excludes such dissent. The Independents are a mixed and colourful bag, but as individually talented as they may be, it is difficult to see how they are making any practical difference at a national level. On the other end of Leinster House, it has been frankly difficult to discern any real difference made by the 60 senators in the Seanad and it is not easy to find defenders of the Seanad who don’t have existing or vested interests. We rarely hear about our politicians in Europe but Nessa Childers opposition to the appointment of Kevin Cardiff to the European Court of Auditors was noteworthy, as indeed was Proinsias de Rossa’s defence of the nomination of the controversial figure to the plum €276,000 a year post. And finally we come to the two most powerful men in government; Eamon Gilmore has had a lousy year and after a General Election victory of sorts and agreeing terms to a coalition government, seems to have done little beyond pissing off the Vatican. But it is Enda Kenny that gets most attention; having fended off a heave in 2010, he fought an election campaign that saw his party returned with a record complement tantalisingly close to a majority; he has spun the silk which has bound the coalition in reasonable harmony for the past ten months despite the odd hiccup and suggestions of friction; he expressed the feelings of a sovereign republic in attacking the Church’s record on child abuse and he was generally a nice person. Having said that, he upset our partners in Europe early on, according to Channel 4 reporter Faisal Islam which might have cost us millions; he disgraced us with a woeful speech at the White House on St Patrick’s Day, he failed to establish any traction with the main players in Europe, he lucked out on Greece’s travails which led to Portugal (without concessions) and Ireland (with tax concessions) getting interest rate reductions. He demonstrated a poor economic and political understanding when he dismissed the repayment of Anglo bondholders as payment from “Anglo’s own resources” and during the Kevin Cardiff debacle he undermined confidence in his ability to lead; and we are still left wondering if he spent most of his time at the last European Peoples Party pre-EU summit meeting in Marseilles trying to convince his colleagues to take that great lummox off our hands, instead of pushing the message that Ireland is facing into unsustainable debt and negative-spiral austerity. In short Enda has been mediocre in the past ten months, and whilst men can find greatness with power and the office of An Taoiseach is not an X Factor contestant’s or Premiership manager’s role, Enda will need demonstrate better abilities in the months to come.

So, in summary the Politician of the Year award is withheld for lack of merit.

Looking ahead to 2012

Will there be a reshuffle? The Young Turks (some of whom aren’t all that young) are champing at the bit for a chance to shape events at this historic juncture. Ministers Shatter and Hogan have not had a good 10 months. Michael Noonan might benefit from a more contrarian junior minister than Brian Hayes. And is there anything to stop Finance having two junior ministers, perhaps a second responsible for banking. And does Gaeltacht Affairs really need a junior minister at all?
And what about Enda? He announced just before Christmas that he was going to assess his ministers in March 2012 and publish the results. Great, and it garnered a couple of positive headlines ahead of the Christmas holidays. But what happens if Joan Burton or Roisin Shortall for example is found wanting, what can Enda do about her without Eamon Gilmore’s input. And will the great moderniser Enda be open to a 360-degree review whereby his ministers give their own assessment of the boss’s performance? February 2016 is only 50 months away, FG knows what it is like to be out of power for 14 years and the course presently being charted by the Government may mean there is a vengeful electorate yearning for the opportunity to repay the incumbents for austerity, anaemic growth, lousy public services, high unemployment and empty place settings around the dinner table.