FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin will propose the expulsion of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern for “conduct unbecoming” a member of the party, when the national executive meets next Friday. It will represent a watershed moment in the organisation’s fight-back against the advances of Sinn Féin. The process has been designed to show that Mr Martin is not only a tough and decisive leader but that a page has been turned and that Fianna Fáil will, in future, operate to the highest ethical standards.
Mr Martin may hope the electorate’s long-standing emotional attachment to the party will outweigh a cold-eyed regard of abuses involving senior government and party members and the constant failure to confront and end them. The fact that he himself served in government while details of political corruption involving ministerial colleagues tumbled out will weaken his hand. The usual excuse for inaction – a need for the completion of due process – no longer serves. This political tactic, involving delay and time-buying, became something of an art form under Fianna Fáil. It facilitated the spread of abuse and corruption and, as the Mahon tribunal reported, allowed those involved to operate with “a justified sense of impunity and invincibility”.
Many years ago, during a “heave” against Charles Haughey, whose leadership heralded “low standards in high places”, a lieutenant declared: “to hell with the rules; we make the rules”. They did. Ethical standards went to hell. The Mahon tribunal has traced just one segment of that slow but steady decline into political corruption and abuse of power. The public’s response to specific disclosures has been equally disturbing. With few exceptions, disgraced individuals were re-elected. This ambivalence was echoed within Fianna Fáil where such activity went largely unpunished.
Expelling a former taoiseach can be a dangerous step, not just in terms of negative impact on the party’s image. The initiator needs to be squeaky clean and in a powerful position. Retribution, in terms of the release of damaging inside information, may follow. Perhaps that is why Mr Haughey, Ray Burke and Pádraig Flynn remained untouched. Having consulted with the membership, however, Mr Martin has decided that “words alone are not enough” and that expulsions are required on this occasion. Already, tendrils of dissent have emerged. Two members of the officer board signalled opposition while Noel Ahern, brother of the former taoiseach criticised Mr Martin’s “mad rush” to judgment and said the party should “take time to reflect”.
Time, in this instance, is not on Mr Martin’s side. If he fails to secure expulsions next week, not only will he be regarded as a weak leader but the party’s attitude towards corruption and unethical behaviour will remain under scrutiny. Those outcomes could prove fatal for a party that is already under immense pressure from Sinn Féin. Any recovery will be a slow process. Fianna Fáil’s prospects for reform and renewal have become deeply enmeshed in how it responds to the Mahon tribunal.