The party leader is at pains to show he no longer follows the old Neanderthal consensus, writes MIRIAM LORD
WITH THINGS so awful for them at the moment, it is a blessing for Fianna Fáil to have a new leader who looks for the silver lining in every cloud.
Years of unbroken rule by his party has delivered a broken country. This may be a minor consideration for Micheál Martin, who refuses to look back, but it is proving a bit of a hindrance when it comes to mounting a credible election campaign.
Still. Micheál the optimist is facing the future, going forward. And the future is radical. “I am not afraid of radical departures,” he said at the launch of his proposals for political reform. Just as well, because most of his TDs will have radically departed by the end of the month.
Since the election began, whenever Martin talks of innovative solutions he is slapped around the head with his record and asked why the hell couldn’t he have implemented some of them when he had the chance? It happened again yesterday. It was a bit ironic, somebody suggested, for him to bang on passionately about Dáil reform now, when he had the previous 14 years to do something.
“The 14 years can be of benefit because one can draw on the experience that one has had . . . to the benefit of the country,” said Micheál, extracting the silver lining. “That’s a plus that I’d like to bring to the table.”
Three governments, of which he was a part, ate the Irish economy alive – without the fava beans or nice bottle of Chianti. Now Martin wants to help: a political Hannibal to our national Clarice. No wonder voters don’t want to touch his party.
At least the morning briefing wasn’t broadcast live. Hearing Micheál vow to make things better for the nation by sharing his experience of life from inside a State car might have upset some.
But there is an election to be fought and the party leader can’t simply hoist the white flag. His best shot is to distance himself as much as possible from the past, while also distancing himself as much as possible from minglings with the great unwashed.
Presumably, this is why he spent the early afternoon in a commercial vegetable plot, communing with green peppers.
The recent past must be erased. Micheál has a plan: it is the evolution of the Fianna Fáil knuckle-draggers. And he is the missing link.
Back in the prehistoric days when Bertosaurus and Bifflodocus roamed the plains of Leinster House, Martin ran with the dinosaur set. During those years, their approach to the issue of political reform and parliamentary co-operation was positively Neanderthal.
Micheál was never known as a reformer in his knuckle-dragging days. But then, as he confessed at his manifesto launch last week, he was addicted to “the consensus”.
He returned to the pernicious influence of “the consensus” yesterday. The prevailing view of society then was that everything was wonderful and nobody challenged how things were done. “The consensus” made everyone lazy. He’s able to think for himself, now that he has evolved and become party leader.
The laziness is gone.
It’s been a very rapid evolutionary process for Martin. Last May, still in cahoots with his fellow knuckle-draggers, he categorically ruled out the appointment of people from outside politics to ministries. Now, it is in his political reform document. What’s that all about? “What I said last May, or sorry, as I said last Monday, I always had issues around the list system and I had issues around whether we should appoint people from outside. But I evolved my thinking . . . and I think we have to learn lessons from the crisis.”
This big push for political reform isn’t an election wheeze for Fianna Fáil because nobody will take them seriously when they talk about the economy and the health service. It’s not been a sudden conversion because they’re going into opposition and won’t be irritated by the notion anymore. Here’s new man Micheál: “One is always evolving one’s thinking, learning and reflecting on whether or not your political system is fit for purpose.”
Evolution or extinction. That’s the choice facing Fianna Fáil. Micheál Martin, the missing link, knows this. The modern FFer is represented by people like Averil Power, who joined him on the platform yesterday. Despite not holding public office, Power, who is standing for the party in Dublin North East, was appointed to the front bench in November as spokeswoman on political reform.
Like her party leader, Averil is of the opinion that Fianna Fáil has taken the issue centre stage. All the other parties – who have produced policy documents – are only interests in “gimmicks”. She concentrated her fire on Fine Gael, dismissing the party’s proposals as the most conservative of all. “I’m not surprised they’re conservative, I guess, in that Enda Kenny has been in the Dáil since before I was born,” said Power (32).
This would be in contrast to Micheál Martin (51), who entered the Dáil 22 years ago and was wedded to the recent way of doing things until the game was up for the administration he served in as a senior minister for 14 years.
The woman who accused Pat Rabbitte of being sexist denied she was being ageist. Micheál kept out of the exchanges. He’s involved in new politics now, unless he’s attacking Gerry Adams.
Later in the day, the radically evolved Martin paid a visit to the Keelings fruit and vegetable farm in north Dublin. It’s a multinational company which grows, sources and distributes fresh produce all over Europe. Michael toured the peppers department. “Salads Only” said the sign on the gate, which was apt for the health-conscious Corkman.