Greens have sacrificed principles for the illusion of power

Sunday Tribune 10 May


What's that sound? Is it the thunder of hooves just over the next ridge? Hurray! It's George Lee leading the cavalry (he's the one on a Segway) to rescue us from the dole queue. Hip, hip, hurray etc, etc.
No matter how you look at it, Fine Gael has floored Fianna Fáil with its choice of candidate for the Dublin South by-election on 5 June. George ticks all the boxes: he's sincere, popular and knowledgable. With the exception of FF, the announcement was loudly applauded. Too loudly. The reaction bordered on mild hysteria. George, while being very, very good at maths, has no political track record. He might be rubbish. Still, it said a lot about where we, the electorate, are at emotionally.
Lee's decision may turn out to be a missed opportunity. Many would like to see a new party enter the fray. With George's financial acumen bolstered by a couple of seasoned dissidents, we could have seen the birth of the George Lee Party. ('George Lee' and 'party': there's three words you don't see together too often.) In time, it might have become known as the Glee Party – 'Spreading the message of gloom with Glee'. Now we'll never know.
While George was throwing shapes over the economy, another man of principle, Eddie Hobbs, reminded us of Fianna Fáil's culture of hard-necked cronyism. Hobbs resigned in protest from the National Consumer Association on Thursday. He had called for Bertie Ahern's 'ex', Celia Larkin, to step down over the revelation that she was fast-tracked for a mortgage by Michael Fingleton. True to FF form, she refused.
The two 'people's economists' aren't the only men of principle taking pot-shots at Fianna Fáil. The Greens are at it too. The first rumblings between the Saviours of the Earth and Fianna Fáil came over the TDs' bonuses debacle. Then John Gormley announced the scrapping of electronic voting, despite a Cabinet decision to defer it. Last Wednesday, Eamon Ryan really stuck the boot in. He told Newstalk's Eamon Keane that he wouldn't recommend Green voters give their transfers to Fianna Fáil in the upcoming local elections. He also said the Greens would be open to doing business with Fine Gael/Labour in a possible National Government. Principled Ryan spoke of "values". He didn't mention loyalty to his government partners, though.
FF played down Ryan's disloyalty and revealed its grand by-election plan to defeat George Lee. It has chosen the late Seamus Brennan's son, Shay, to run against him. Fine Gael is putting up a trusted economist, while FF is relying on sentiment. Economies are not saved by sentiment.
To compound the impression that Fianna Fáil is entirely clueless, Brian Lenihan said, disingenuously, that the three sets of elections on 5 June don't constitute "a referendum". This is rubbish. Fianna Fáil will be tested across the entire voting spectrum: local, by-elections and European. The outcome will reflect the public mood: 384,000 unemployed people are looking forward to letting him and his colleagues know how we feel. You only have to look at the election posters to see FF is really worried: the words 'Fianna Fáil' are microscopic. It's like they're trying to distance themselves from themselves.
Ryan's comments, too, were designed to distance the Greens from them in the run-up to the elections. The question is: What will the Greens do when the elections are over? If Ryan was disloyal last week, imagine what he'll be like when FF is really down.
There's revolution in the air. The public is subconsciously preparing for a new government. As Seán O'Rourke was grilling Lee on Tuesday's News at One, the speculation wasn't whether he would win the seat, but what portfolio he would get in the next cabinet. Lee had leaped that hurdle and was already in a new Fine Gael-led government in the public's mind.
The Greens realise this and that they face annihilation in a general election. They need to start building bridges, which may be why Ryan spoke about doing business with Fine Gael on Newstalk. This double talk, however, is giving weight to ex-Green Patricia McKenna's assertion that they are hypocrites who have sold out.
George Lee has sacrificed his power as a commentator to follow his principles. The Greens have sacrificed their principles for the illusion of power. Their weasly behaviour is at odds with the image of a party with lofty ideals. They used to stand for integrity and plain-speaking. It's taken them just two years to learn how to speak like Fianna Fáil. They are still politically immature though. Trying to be Machiavellian doesn't suit them and is, frankly, a bit embarassing. It's like watching the class nerd trying to act tough.
The response to Lee's candidacy has shown that, psychologically, we are already on a general election footing. By failing to strongly endorse their partners now, the Greens are effectively undermining them. They are hinting that they're having doubts. If they don't act upon these doubts, they are finished as a party. It's a dangerous game they're playing.
The Greens can still show they have some principles left. They should jump ship now, before it's too late, and nail their colours to a National Government mast.
It's either that, or get nailed by a seething electorate.

dkenny@tribune.ie

Nice u-turn Micheál, but you're hardly a class act

Sunday Tribune 3 May

Is it just me or has anybody else noticed it? George Lee's name is ironic. He's 'G. Lee'. Mr Glee, no less. I realised this as Mr Glee's sepulchral tones delivered the bad news from the ESRI on Wednesday – unemployment is now expected to reach the 500,000 mark. Ireland is suffering the worst recession anywhere since the 1930s.
Mr Glee's glum report was the icing on a fruitcake week, which was dominated by cats, pigs and a u-turn by a senior minister. Let's deal with the cats first.
Top Cat economist, David Grubb of the OECD, says our dole is too generous. It discourages people from looking for work. Really? 380,000 people may beg to differ. Last week, a clothes shop in Galway received 1,000 applications for just 60 jobs. Among the applicants were teachers, lawyers and other graduates, all willing to set aside years of training – and the dole – to sell clothes. Being employed is about more than just money, it's about self-esteem. People want to work, not get 'hooked' on the dole, despite what the experts say. That's why so many workers were angry at being the victims of another 'cat' last week: the unofficial wildcat bus strike.
On Monday, a group of morons at Dublin Bus hindered 100,000 commuters because a driver was suspended for refusing to work an agreed new schedule. What kind of idiots strike in a recession? Half-witted actions like this only further destabilise the economy. The government should introduce legislation outlawing the disruption of public transport without union sanction. If that's not possible, then future job contracts should have a clause waiving the 'right' to unofficial action. Selfish bus drivers should not be allowed to mess up the economy. That's the job of the lads in Leinster House, which brings us to the pigs we mentioned earlier.
Last week, swine flu arrived to hoots of derision from Ryanair's Dr Michael O'Leary. He prescribed Strepsils and accused "idiot politicians" of using this "load of b***** nonsense" to distract us from the economy. He's wrong: it's doubtful they could even do that properly. Day after day, our politicians prove how inept, self-centred and deluded they are. Take Bertie Ahern, for example. He's more delusional than a pig looking forward to Christmas.
Last week, he hinted he wants to be Dublin's first publicly elected Mayor. The job should go to an experienced politician, he said. Not someone going around "making an ass of themselves". (Hasn't he already got that gig?)
Bertie believes he can have whatever job he wants when he leaves the Dáil. After receiving a fat pay-off and pension, he wants to continue swanning around in a state-paid job. When it comes to having a jaw-dropping sense of entitlement, Bertie is king. Or he was – last week, he was usurped by one of his former lieutenants.
On Monday, the Indo revealed that Micheál Martin will draw three pensions when he retires, worth nearly €130,000. These are ministerial, TD and teacher pensions. Martin has held on to his teaching job – for the past 20 years – despite financial security most of us only dream of. Under 'Oireachtas Leave' rules, he is entitled to do this while a substitute fills in for him. On Tuesday, he said he has no intention of quitting a job he hasn't worked at since 1989. This means he is denying someone a full-time post so he has something to fall back on if he loses his seat.
To add insult to injury, he lamely explained that he has a young family to support. Showing a rare lack of confidence, he pointed out that he's 48 and "if anything happened tomorrow morning with regard to my career…".
You have to feel sorry for him. If he gets the sack, he'll be staring at a bleak future on €130,000 a year and a six-figure lump sum. Despite being considered a potential taoiseach, he apparently doesn't believe he has the skill to carve out a business career. He's heading straight back to the classroom.
Yesterday, it emerged that he has had a change of heart since the Indo revelation and now only wants a pension for the five-and-a-half years he spent with his back to a blackboard. Big deal, he's still not giving up his teaching job.
Eleven of his Oireachtas colleagues – including Mary Hanafin – are also clinging to their teaching posts. Like Martin, they're frightened they might wind up hooked on the dole, as Mr Grubb says.
Martin was a member of the Ahern-led government that failed to put money aside for our future. He says he is only thinking of his family's by keeping his teaching options open. What a hypocrite. The 380,000 unemployed didn't have a back-up job when they were let go. What a great role model he'll make if he takes up teaching again.
Martin has been shamed into making a small gesture about his pension and doesn't deserve applause for it. His u-turn just means that there's a little less in the political trough for him as his colleagues snuffle around him.
Pigs will fly before any of them ever sees a dole queue.

dkenny@tribune.ie