Drapier An insider's guide to politicsDrapier is not a fan of Christmas. First, the excess, of which no more shall be said. Then there are the histrionics and the long hours as the civil servants bombard us with every last thing they can think of which absolutely must be got through by year-end. But most of all it's the cards.
Like almost everyone else in Leinster House Drapier sends out bucketloads of Christmas cards. Some colleagues take a hands-off approach, leaving everything to a trusted member of staff. But Drapier likes to add the personal touch, signing each one individually and even adding the odd word so as to give the impression that real thought has gone into the whole business.
Unfortunately, the human spirit is weak, and sooner or later the personal words give way to a barely legible scrawl. In short, Drapier gets fed up. All the more so because most recipients of cards from politicians treat them as a form of spam and dispatch them to the green bin with unreasonable haste. We are so wronged.
It is customary at this time of year for Drapier to take a glance back at the year and confer accolades on colleagues who have impressed.
For the party leaders it has been a year of mixed fortunes.
Bertie just about marked time.There is a general sense that the punters have tired of the current crowd, but they nonetheless extend a much longer leash to Bertie personally, who finishes the year at just about the same level of public approval as this time last year. He has successfully switched the focus of Government from centre-right to centre-left, and that in itself is no mean achievement.
Enda has had a good year. Performance in the Dáil is much improved, but it's still not easy to take him seriously when he decides to come across all indignant and angry. But the party is happy, and there is an unmistakable confidence about the Blueshirts that has been missing for some years now.
Pat Rabbitte has had a year of two halves. For the first six months he careered from crisis to crisis as the opponents of his electoral strategy did their best to cause him trouble. But ever since he got his party to agree to a pre-election deal with Enda things have settled, and the party seems to have decided to let him do things his way.
Mary Harney has had a pretty awful year in Health as the land mines went off one by one. She lost her secretary general at the very start of the year, and things hardly improved much thereafter. Trouble in getting the HSE up and running, trouble in getting the doctors to work the new medical cards, PPARS, dirty hospitals, MRSA, A&E crises. Can she really have imagined it would be as bad as this?
Gerry and the Shinners had a pretty momentous year, what with decommissioning and all that, but their support levels are curiously becalmed. They failed to take out the SDLP in the Westminster election, and there has been no electoral dividend from doing away with the guns. On the other hand there seemed to be little electoral damage arising out of the McCartney murder and the Northern Bank.
So then to the awards.
Most impressive Minister: Drapier has given much thought to this particular category, and in the end it comes down to Mary Hanafin and Michael McDowell. Michael gives good value, not least in the Dáil where he is provocative and combative in a way that most others eschew. Michael enjoys nothing better than a decent row, and Drapier likes that.
Mary on the other hand is less aggressive, though she can look after herself in a fight. She has got a real grip on Education, and her third-level package announced last week has the potential to be genuinely innovative. On balance Mary shades it.
Best Junior: Conor Lenihan has recovered from the kebab business and seems to have got his head around Third World development. Brother Brian handled Ferns with real sensitivity. Tom Parlon is doing a competent job pushing through the decentralisation madness. But just for being a nice guy who knows what he's doing and has a healthy respect for others, Drapier is happy to designate Tony Killeen as the best junior.
Best opposition spokesman: Eamonn Ryan, Jan O'Sullivan, Richard Bruton all come to mind. Olivia Mitchell and Róisín Shortall have both laboured long and hard for their respective parties in Transport, but for sheer style, doggedness and command of her brief Liz McManus just about shades it.
Best Government backbencher: Peter Power has impressed on the few occasions he was sent out to do a job. So, too, have Jim Glennon and Barry Andrews, but ultimately it comes down to a straight fight between Pat Carey and Liz O'Donnell. Liz can really turn it on when she is minded to, as when she did her full frontal attack on the church. On the other hand Pat is urbane, thoughtful and rarely flashy. He gets the vote.
Best Seanad performance: All of the party leaders, Brian Hayes, Brendan Ryan, Joe O'Toole and John Dardis, have been solid and reliable. For entertainment there is little to beat David Norris and Mary White, ideally in duet. But it is impossible to gainsay the claims of the leader herself. Mary O'Rourke dominates the Seanad like few if any of her predecessors. Like her or loathe her, she makes her mark, and this particular Seanad would be much more boring were it not for her.
Funniest moment: Drapier has thought long and hard about the heckles of Willie O'Dea and the carefully constructed similes of Joe Higgins. That said, the accolade goes to Michael D who caused great mirth by unwittingly describing Dermot Ahern as Minister for Fornication.
And with that Drapier wishes you all a Happy Christmas and bids you adieu.