None of us on the political scene is in imminent danger of death from boredom. The sense of shock and amazement experienced by many as the revelations continue to grow is compounded by the fact that politically we were a fairly secretive society. Opening a window for the first time in a poorly ventilated room sets off all kinds of chain reactions. That is happening here now.
Things are coming at us so thick and fast, like a meteor shower hitting a space ship, that to be fully up to date Drapier should write this column at about 1 a.m. today, Saturday. We are a far cry from the relaxed days when the late John Healy wrote a column in this paper called "Backbencher" where the most trivial little events and minor utterances were given great profundity. What was written one week could just as easily have been written another week. Weeks rarely varied very much and there were certain basic ground rules that never varied at all. One of those inexorable rules of the universe was the expectation that nobody in Fianna Fail ever spilled the beans.
What makes this present situation so different is that there is every indication of widespread and serious bean-spilling. The latest and clearest example is that Ray Burke thought it appropriate to tell the Flood tribunal about the £l0,000 plus that came to Fianna Fail from a passport application investor. Has he told Flood, or Moriarty, any other interesting bits of information of which he is aware which might be relevant to their inquiries? Have others done so?
Bertie Ahern has a few formidable disaffected people breathing down his neck. Contrary to his preference, which is to remain hail-fellow-well-met with everyone, he has now been forced by circumstances to fall foul of Charlie Haughey, Ray Burke, Albert Reynolds and Padraig Flynn. That quartet of gravediggers between them know where an awful lot of bodies are buried.
It must be a chilling thought for Bertie to wake up each morning and wait for the latest leak or allegation. And each day that passes the monolithic edifice that was Fianna Fail crumbles just a little more. Younger members get more frustrated and angry. The older members become ever more silent as they brood on what may well be "coming down the tracks" at them like a runaway train.
Twenty months after a general election there is a sudden feeling of impermanence and insecurity again. The dreaded general election which nobody in here wants becomes the spectre haunting everyone's waking hours. Particularly as a result of Des O'Malley's recent speech on the Flynn question and its origin, the Progressive Democrats are being looked at for their reaction to events. As things stand this drip feed of information could go on for quite some time. Inevitably a Government that is wrapped up in the struggle for its own survival can give only limited attention to some of the tremendously important decisions that will affect this country. Agenda 2000, in particular the reform of the CAP, the establishment of a power-sharing executive in the North wrapped up with the decommissioning question, these are all matters of great moment with long term repercussions for the island.
But while all this is going on, what are members of the Government looking at? They are looking at whether some of their former colleagues have immunity, whether the immunity is full or partial, whether the immunity is limited or open-ended, whether the immunity is temporary or permanent and whether or not a conditional immunity has been withdrawn. We are told that some form of limited immunity was given to Ray Burke and that when it was withdrawn his willingness to help the Flood tribunal diminished. Was any immunity offered to others? If not will it be offered to others? If not, why not? Is there any limit to the topics or areas which such an offer of immunity might cover?
One of the topics that is certainly going to be aired in full in the months to come is the infamous passports-for-sale scheme. The way this scheme was run from early on was so questionable and so arbitrary that it would be surprising if some major mal-practices were not found to be associated with it. So far as Drapier is aware a full list of the names and addresses of the 160 or so people who benefited under this scheme has never been published. The whole thing has always been cloaked in secrecy and intrigue. Only a very limited number of people ever seem to have been involved in its administration and those outside that privileged circle seem to know very little of what was going on.
That dodgy passports-for-sale scheme on its own is worthy of thorough investigation and this will take some time. One gradually comes to appreciate how many more things need to be looked at. Perhaps this time they will.
And in the meantime the Irish nation sits anxiously waiting for an answer to its simple questions from Pee Flynn. How much longer do we have to wait, Pee, or is your contempt for the Irish people just infinite?