It is said that the great 19th century patriot Daniel O'Connell was such a philanderer that if you threw a stone over any wall in Ireland you'd hit one of his offspring, writes Mary Raftery.
These days, it seems, throw a stone and you'll hit a Fianna Fáil property developer - certainly one interpretation of recent radio remarks made by Minister for Defence, Michael Smith. He was responding to queries about new premises for the Civil Defence headquarters, shortly to be decentralised from Dublin to the Minister's home town of Roscrea.
Smith is at the centre of a public row with the chair of the Civil Defence Board, Michael Ryan, over the suitability of the new building. He has demanded Ryan's resignation, has been refused, and is now investigating the means to sack him.
Asked to comment on the fact that the new building - a warehouse in an industrial estate - is part-owned by local Fianna Fáil politician and Lord Mayor Sean Mulrooney, Smith's response was a refreshingly novel defence to the charge of political cronyism.
"Over 40 per cent of the people in this country support Fianna Fáil," he said. "I hope that they're involved in enterprise and development. It has nothing to do with me." He added that if this 40 per cent were not so involved, then "it would be a very poor Ireland".
The decision to decentralise the Civil Defence headquarters was an early one, made in 2000. Mr Smith was roundly attacked at the time for naked self-interest in moving the organisation to his own constituency. He remains unapologetic.
"All politics is local," he said in 2000, adding that his area was entitled to "some whack out of the decentralisation programme". The delivery of goodies to his home town was important in terms of his re-election prospects. Local Fianna Fáil director of elections in 2002, Sean Mulrooney (yes, he who part-owns the new Civil Defence building in Roscrea now to be leased to the State) was regarded as having done an excellent job in carving the party's vote neatly to retain its two Dáil seats in Tipperary North.
Civil Defence was initially supposed to be located in part of the old Sacred Heart convent in Roscrea, owned by a local community group which operates a leisure centre there. In 2001, Mr Smith had no problem with a refurbishment bill for the old convent of €1.2 million. Planning permission was secured, and the community group was delighted with the investment in its building.
However, in 2003, with the lease close to being finalised with the community group, the Office of Public Works (OPW) suddenly advertised for "expressions of interest" from anyone wishing to provide permanent accommodation in Roscrea for the Civil Defence headquarters.
Four applications were received, with the lease finally granted to a company called Enterprise Roscrea Ltd in respect of its empty advance factory building on the Benamore Industrial Estate just outside the town. Sean Mulrooney is a director and substantial shareholder of this company. He has quite properly declared his interest to Tipperary County Council.
As all of this was happening, a new Civil Defence Act (2002) was passed by the Oireachtas. This established a Civil Defence Board to take over responsibility for running the organisation from the Department of Defence.
However, incredible as it may seem, the board was not consulted about its new premises in Roscrea. The dealings were entirely between the OPW and the Department, with the board left out in the cold.
The board is not opposed to moving to Roscrea per se. Its problem is that it considers the new premises to be unsuitable for its offices and training school. It also has huge problems with the lack of consultation. It could certainly be argued that by bypassing the board on such a crucial issue, the Minister for Defence is in direct contravention of his own legislation, which clearly transfers management responsibility for Civil Defence to the Board.
Civil Defence is a remarkable association of around 6,000 volunteers, who give their time freely when required. They back up local gardaí or fire services, assist in search-and- rescue missions, and notably provided enormous resource support to the Special Olympics last year. The organisation is an example of the very finest community spirit.
It is surely one of the most crucial functions of the board to protect this precious but vulnerable spirit against anything which might harm it. The current controversy, with a Minister railroading the organisation into what it considers unsuitable premises, refusing to consult with it, and then threatening to sack its chairman, is hardly conducive to fostering the vital volunteer commitment of Civil Defence in Ireland.
Just as importantly, the whole sorry saga may give us an insight into the model for decentralisation in other areas of the civil service. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that what we are about to witness is a nationwide feeding frenzy, as property owners line up at the trough for their slice of the decentralisation bonanza.