A spin team or just an information bureau? Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent, on the role of the Government's Media Monitoring Unit
Although it evokes notions of George Orwell's 1984, the Government's Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) is a mundane, prosaic operation. Set up in the aftermath of the 1997 general election, the six-strong unit provides synopses of the headlines several times daily for key figures in the Government.
The unit operates out of the Government Information Service in the Department of the Taoiseach, although it is made up of staff transferred from several departments.
This week, Fine Gael charged - yet again - that the Exchequer-funded unit does more: that it is directly involved in preparing the Government's retaliation.
The allegation is backed up by Fine Gael's discovery of a recruitment notice for a member of the unit that was circulating around the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in recent weeks.
The unit's "principle function", the recruitment notice said, is "to act as an early warning system" about critical media coverage and tip-off the relevant departments.
"In many ways, the MMU will be modelled on the British Labour Party's Quick Response Unit based in Millbank, London," it went on.
The mere mention of Millbank is, of course, enough to feed the conspiracy mills for weeks - given the difficulties British Labour has run into over "spin".
However, the notice was based on a never-implemented circular drawn up in the first flush of Fianna Fáil's June 1997 general election victory.
During that election campaign, Fianna Fáil election staff began to monitor radio and televisions news bulletins, along with the papers, comprehensively.
The work produced dividends. Often, Fianna Fáil got its response to a charge levelled by opponents on the air before the latter's remark had imprinted itself on the public mind.
Managed in its early years by a Fianna Fáil appointee, Marty Whelan, the unit began to produce bulletins and send them to the homes and offices of senior ministers, political advisers and civil servants.
Whelan, who has since left the Government service and now works with the Irish Bank Officials' Association, is, even in the eyes of friends, a lover of conspiracy.
"Often he managed to convey the impression that the unit was up to darker activity than in fact it ever was," said one who served with him at the time.
The reality is much more boring, as can be judged by the turnover of staff in the MMU since its foundation: "People move on. It is a hard, soul-destroying slog," said one official.
Five clerical officers, plus one staff officer, work on shifts between 6.30 a.m. and 11.30 p.m. in the MMU, reporting firstly to the Government press secretary, Mandy Johnston. The fruits of its labours can be illustrated by the following quotes from one of its bulletins issued to its clients last Thursday at 1 p.m.
"RTÉ 1 TV: 1. Abortion investigation - Dublin gardaí are investigating two cases of suspected backstreet abortions carried out on immigrant women in the city in the last six months."
It then offered a one-paragraph summary of the items listed on RTÉ's lunchtime television and radio programmes, and a brief synopsis of the points made by interviewees.
It went on later to quote from 98FM's lunchtime headlines: "1. Avril Doyle is going to fight a charge of dangerous driving in the courts. 2. The owners of the pub behind the smoking ban row have backed down."
The news headlines on Dublin Country 106.8 FM are monitored by the unit so that it hears the reports filed by Independent Network News (INN).
INN is a highly significant vehicle for news since it supplies most of the country's independent stations with national material, and offers a 50 per cent-plus audience reach.
The material gathered by the MMU is useful, but little more: "It is particularly helpful if you are abroad with a minister. It can give you a good sense of what is happening back home. Equally, a succession of the bulletins gives you a clear read of how the coverage of something is changing," one senior civil servant told The Irish Times.
However, the media landscape has changed significantly since 1997. "Listen, we were still using faxes back then, for God's sake," said an ex-political appointee.
RTÉ's Aertel service provides much the same information, while the station's website offers easy links to programmes where the interviews can be heard.
However, the MMU does provide a tidy starting point, along with detailed transcripts of particular interviews when Government departments request them.
This year, the unit will cost €314,402 to run, and this bill is split between six departments, although the Government claims it saves it €175,000 annually.
Before 1997, much of the Government's transcription work was contracted out to private media monitoring firms such as News Extracts on Ely Place, just up the road from the Department of the Taoiseach. The creation of the MMU led to a noticeable loss of business for these firms: "It was significant, I think," says Stephen Cousins, managing director of News Extracts.
However, Cousins accepts the logic that the Government should be doing much of this work for itself. "Ministers and civil servants need to know the issues of the day. They need to be informed about how their actions are being perceived by the customers of their services. This is nothing more than good management," he told The Irish Times.
The constant focus on the work of the unit by Fine Gael and some elements of the media causes bafflement within the Government and among civil servants. If anything, the MMU is ignored by many of the departmental press officers, who are ever conscious of their own patch and the need to defend it.
"The bulletins are handy, but I don't depend on them. Most of the time I would do transcriptions myself if I needed them," one press officer told The Irish Times privately. "The idea that I would be going to the MMU for direction is simply laughable. I don't often talk to Mandy, as it is," he commented.
Despite Fine Gael's complaints, it is unthinkable that the party would close down the unit if it gets back into power after the next general election.
Governments today operate in an ever-growing media market. To argue that it could afford to ignore this, or not to be up to date with changes, is ludicrous.
In 2002, Fianna Fáil's definite attempts at manipulation - particularly surrounding its promise to recruit 2,000 gardaí - left a sour taste in the mouths of journalists involved in covering its election campaign.
Repeating the exercise would not be easy. As the adage says: "Make a fool of me once, shame on you. Make a fool of me twice, shame on me."
While there is an issue about the Government's dealings with the media today, it is daft in the extreme to lay the blame at the door of the MMU.
In any event, this Government is not Millbank. The collapse in its post-general election fortunes in the months after the 2002 election, when the Government's reputation dribbled away over the dog days of summer, is not evidence of a keenly orchestrated, ever-watchful media strategy.
If anything, they often make the mistake of thinking that they are a lot smarter than they are and that all journalists are thick - even though the current occupants of Government Buildings are no more guilty on this point than their predecessors.