“I hear talk going on all the time about forming new parties, and things like that, and that’s all very appropriate in a democracy. But they should remember two things: that the formation of a new party requires an enormous capacity for hard work and that it deserves and requires an enormous amount of hard work. And anybody contemplating that has to be prepared to put in the miles and the hours and the grind that is necessary.”
Some advice from Enda to Lucinda Creighton? The Taoiseach made his remarks at Pádraic McCormack’s book launch but we didn’t notice any members of the Reform Alliance there to catch his comments.
High profile
While Deputy Creighton has been adamant that neither she nor her fellow FG exiles are planning a new political party, they are doing all they can to maintain a high profile for themselves and the RA.
To this end we see that Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has sent emails to media organisations announcing that members of the RA are available for punditry duty.
“If your show or newspaper is looking for panel members or comments respectively or if indeed you wish to have background information on a particular subject, please contact any of our Reform Alliance members directly,” she writes, enclosing brief biographies, head shots and contact information.
“Mother, educator author, politician” Fidelma supplies a lengthy CV. “A founding member of the new political grouping Reform Alliance, she is a conviction politician, passionate about reform and contributing to real change to build a better Ireland for all our citizens.
“Fidelma’s hobbies include enjoying the great outdoors – hiking, running, walking; choral singing and farming.”
Paul Bradford, we learn, “has a deep interest in the politics of our EU neighbours and that of the USA. The Senator is an avid sports fan and a very keen supporter of horse racing and Tottenham Hotspur FC.”
We suspect the various news outlets already had a number for Peter Mathews. He reminds them that before entering politics “he focused on analysing the banking and economic crash in Ireland, writing analysis and opinion piece in the press and participating in media discussions and debates”.
Hobbies
Billy Timmins hides his light under a bushel with a very brief CV outlining his educational qualifications and his military and political experiences. Sadly, he doesn’t elaborate on hobbies. Neither does Terence Flanagan, although he played drums in the Artane Boys’ Band.
We never knew Denis Naughton is “a scientist by profession”. He has “been in the unusual position of having held a unique range of spokespersonships within the Fine Gael Party shadowing seven separate departments”.
And finally there's Lucinda. That's another number the producers and editors already have. Interestingly, unlike the others, "Reform Alliance TD for Dublin South East" Creighton manages to get through her very impressive CV without one mention of Fine Gael.
Sinn Féin takes a step forward in the company of TV3
Political nerds are in for a treat this Monday when TV3 broadcasts its long awaited At Home with the Healy-Raes extravaganza, which is going out at 9pm, followed by Ursula Halligan's two-part documentary on Sinn Féin.
Over the years there have been many television profiles of leading lights in the republican movement and countless programmes have been made about the IRA and the Troubles but this is the first in-depth look at the Sinn Féin party.
The fact that SF agreed to co-operate is significant in itself. Another step forward in the political project.
All the big players have been interviewed – Gerry Adams chooses the Cooley mountains for his backdrop, while Martin McGuinness takes Halligan along for a walk with his dog, Buttons.
Buttons seems quite the character, cute and fluffy but with a subversive streak too. When he thought nobody was looking, he cocked his leg on the camera equipment.
Meanwhile, Mary Lou McDonald ponders the question of what makes a “Shinner” while doing her weekly shop in Superquinn in Blanchardstown. Perhaps the contents of her trolley will yield a few clues. . .
Sinn Féin: Who are they? goes out a 10pm on Monday.
No fix for technical problems
Mick and Ming must be enjoying the latest rumpus in the technical group, because this time it has nothing whatsoever to do with them.
Deputies Wallace and Flanagan have had their fair share of differences with the group, with furious arguments over speaking rights at Leaders’ Questions.
It seems that communication has broken down between group whip Catherine Murphy and Tipperary South’s Mattie McGrath. The pair have fallen out over the employment – and subsequent resignation – of a coordinator for the group.
As a result, McGrath has not attended a meeting of the group since July. We hear that Shane Ross has been trying to negotiate a truce but with little success to date.
Meanwhile, we wrote last week that Mattie enjoyed dinner in the Shelbourne hotel with visiting Italian parliamentarians. The nature of the event was lost in translation. The Ceann Comhairle hosted dinner for the executive of the North-South Interparliamentary Association and Mattie attended their meeting and dinner as a substitute for fellow Independent Thomas Pringle.
