Candidate fever; cow ghosts; our high-performance leaders; Ivor’s family affair; more envelope watching; putting manners on the rockers; Noel O’Flynn’s gang; Bertie stirs it up
DUBLIN SOUTH will be a hive of activity on Wednesday night, when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael finally get around to choosing their candidates in the forthcoming byelection.
It will be a thankless task for whoever gets to carry the standard for the Soldiers of Destiny. Shay Brennan, son of the late Séamus Brennan, was tipped to run, but then signalled he was out of the race. Yesterday, there were some whispers he might change his mind.
But favourite to get the nomination is Senator Maria Corrigan. Whoever is selected knows that their campaign will be a dry run for the general election, because the general view is that the party will be “hammered” on June 5th.
The convention takes place in Charlie Chawke’s Goat Inn. Charlie’s horse, Forpadytheplaster, would have a better chance of winning than any other candidate carrying the FF colours.
Fine Gael, on the other hand, has been making a right meal of the contest. Given the make-up of the constituency, the party should be in with a good chance of taking a third seat. All they have to do is choose a candidate.
It seemed a bit farcical in the Dáil on Tuesday when FG moved the writ for the byelection, with its parliamentary party members still in the dark as to who they are fielding on the big day.
A number of “celebrity” names are being bandied about. George Lee and David McWilliams continue to figure, while political heavyweights from former leader John Bruton to former PD leader Michael McDowell have been mentioned also.
A dark horse might be Jim Miley, former party general secretary who stepped down on Wednesday as chief executive of Myhome.ie. Roscommon born Miley, a former RTÉ presenter and producer, is a Fine Gael blueblood. He is also independently wealthy, always an asset when an election needs to be fought.
One name that has cropped up is that of former PD deputy for the area, Liz O’Donnell. The party has denied that she will be the one, although yesterday, some Labour canvassers in the area were reporting “big rumours on the doorsteps” that Liz is in the frame.
One Dublin FG deputy went as far as to say the candidate will be male, and “a big name” and from one of the names mentioned above.
No doubt sitting deputies Olivia Mitchell and Alan Shatter will be petitioning their chief whip Paul Kehoe for time off to canvass for their prospective Dáil competition.
In the meantime, if headquarters still haven’t made up their mind, Michael Fingleton retired from the Irish Nationwide yesterday, so he has time on his hands. And Seanie FitzPatrick needs a job too.
Or what about the former Fine Gael attorney general, Dermot Gleeson? He’s lost his position at AIB.
Souls of the fallen
We came across a couple of giddy Labour deputies on Tuesday making strange mooing noises and waggling their index fingers on top of their heads.
Very odd.
“Did you not hear Willie Penrose last week? We’re cow ghosts, coming to haunt you. Check the record, if you don’t believe us. Moo!” So we did, at the bit where Penrose complains about “the sneaky cut” in the Budget for the Fallen Animal Scheme, which means that farmer’s have to pay €160 to dispose of dead animals.
“Farmers cannot get burial licences, but must go to the nearest vet,” the Labour TD for Longford/Westmeath told Minister Brendan Smith.
“It’s a disaster that will come back to haunt you.” Cracks them up every time.
A guru’s invite
Should he find himself with an hour or two to spare on Thursday – it’s the first anniversary of his election as Taoiseach – Brian Cowen might consider taking a little trip to the Carlton Dublin Airport Hotel.
Canadian “guru” Robin Sharma, bestselling author and leadership expert, has invited both Brian Cowen and Enda Kenny to attend his seminar there called High Performance Leadership in Turbulent Times. According to the press release, Sharma is one of the world’s top experts on leadership and personal success, and one of the most in-demand speakers in the world. He has 10 international bestsellers to his name, including The Greatness Guide and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. A former litigation lawyer, his highly successful training firm has a simple mission: “To help people and organisations realise their highest potential.” We’re not sure how much it costs to attend, but a whip-round for a ticket for the Taoiseach might be a good idea.
Chip off the old block
Just before Easter, we mentioned here that Ivor Callely’s son Ronan was hoping to get the nod from Fianna Fáil to run for the party in the local elections.
He is now on the ticket.
The first press release arrived on Thursday. From his Da.
“Callely’s campaign delivers major funding for Clontarf school” it begins, with the Senator delighted to confirm that funding has been sanctioned for a replacement prefab in the local national school.
Ivor’s done everything he can to help out with the fundraising effort at local level, working “tirelessly” for the cause, he says modestly. With no strings attached, apart from the young fella. The missives continues: “Ivor’s son Ronan Callely, who has just announced he will be running in the local elections for the Clontarf electoral area, was a student at Belgrove and has warmly welcomed today’s move.” There then follows a long quote from the chiseller, beginning “As a past pupil, I know only too well the need for the new prefab . . . ” A chip of the old block.
And another . . .
Another chip off another Fianna Fáil block is Cllr Kenneth O’Flynn, scion of Noel O’Flynn, deputy for Cork North Central. Deputy Flynn is also pushing hard for the young fella in the local elections.
Which brings us nicely to this week’s episode of Envelope Watch. Since we began highlighting how Oireachtas members are using their free-post entitlement to canvass support for local election candidates, readers have been sending in examples.
“In recent weeks, the people of Cork city have had two rounds of Dáil envelopes sent to them. The first included a letter from Noel urging us to vote for a certain Kenneth O’Flynn in the upcoming elections. The second letter was a little less blatant, with news of an ‘information meeting’ but again reminding people of the council elections,” e-mails a Cork reader, attaching the relevant correspondence.
“As we face into this world economic crisis, which is affecting all of us, it is now more than ever that we need strong voices both locally and nationally,” Noel writes.
“I will continue to stand up for the people of the Northside in Dáil Éireann.
“Cllr Kenneth O’Flynn is a young councillor with a dynamic new approach to politics and a strong commitment to make things better on this side of the city. Your No 1 vote on June 5th will ensure that you will be well represented on Cork City Council,” writes the Da, complete with Oireachtas envelope.
What would Sipo make of it, given that the body overseeing standards in public office recently reminded Oireachtas members that the service was for public information purposes and not party political electioneering?
Rump of disaffection
It will be the brave Sipo man or woman who takes Noel O’Flynn to task. He’s currently conspicuous around Leinster House by the company he keeps. He is regularly seen around the coffee dock area with Fianna Fáil parliamentary party colleagues who make up the inelegantly titled Disaffected Rump.
Reportedly, one of the regulars among this group (it might just be a book club) is Noel Treacy of Galway East. Noel is a reigning record holder in Leinster House.
He holds the distinction of being the last candidate from a government party elected to the Dáil in a byelection. By all accounts, his record is in no danger for the foreseeable future.
Lenihan meets marker
Brian Lenihan had a fairly run of the mill engagement on Thursday when he was due to address the Irish Brokers’ Association AGM in the Four Seasons.
“Back to Basics” was their motto. Lenihan took his place at the top table, beside Dan O’Brien, senior economist and editor of the influential Economist Intelligence Unit. Dan is a big hitter. Sometimes, he takes out the big stick when he writes for The Irish Times.
He wrote this on March 20th: “But it is not only among financiers that a clean break is required. New appointments to the two main Government economic portfolios – Finance and Enterprise Trade and Employment – are needed as much as change in the banks. Brian Lenihan . . . bears much of the responsibility for what has become the worst budgetary disaster in the history of the OECD . . . To set out the inadequacies of Mary Coughlan as Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment would be inappropriate and unhelpful. It suffices to say that at a time of national emergency, the patently and grossly unable, by their mere presence, should not be allowed to obstruct efforts to prevent outright meltdown.” Wonder what they said to each other on Thursday?
We’ll show the Boss
The market for political attention seekers is very crowded at the moment, due to the large number of elections on the horizon. Photo opportunities grow more ridiculous by the day, with the Green Party the worst offenders.
Labour deputy Seán Sherlock made a valiant attempt during the week to bag himself column inches by demanding that “Visiting Rock Bands Should be Forced to Pay Tax”. He “slammed” the Government for failing to introduce a levy on visiting rock bands and performers. It could raise “hundreds of millions of euro for the exchequer”, says Seán.
Other countries do it, why can’t we? “Instead, we have a Government that chooses to cripple middle income families and abolish the Christmas bonus.” Sherlock reckons that as much as €200 million in taxes has been lost because of the failure to implement the double taxation treaty.
“I understand that recent concerts by Tina Turner and Bruce Springsteen grossed around €12 million while top international acts will command millions in fees for appearing at festivals like Oxygen and Electric Picnic. They won’t pay a penny, but the average worker in this country is now paying through the nose.” Maybe the deputy should enlist Bono’s help. He’s a rock star, and a whizz at the taxes.
Bertie our own Boris?
The Bert was in mischievous mood this week. Launching a guide to the local elections entitled All Politics is Local, by academics Liam Weeks and Aodh Quinlivan, the former taoiseach stirred things up with a strong hint that he might be interested in becoming Dublin’s answer to Boris Johnson or Ken Livingstone. (That’s if John Gormley ever comes good on his promise to establish a directly-elected mayoralty with executive powers.) The former taoiseach also got in a sharp dig at pundits who predicted his demise in the last general election. The Collins Press launch took place in Buswells, with Bertie expressing the hope that it would be over in time for him to watch the Manchester United v Arsenal match.
In a throwaway line to be savoured by Bertiewatchers and Mahon tribunal aficionados he said: “It’s well-known that, as well as loving Drumcondra, I love Manchester.” Among those present were Siptu president Jack O’Connor, Michael Kitt, Kerry FF Senator Mark Daly, and former Labour Party general secretary Séamus Scally.
