No honeymoon period for new Taoiseach
Newly-elected Taoiseach Simon Harris leaving the Dail after he became the youngest Taoiseach in Ireland's history.
Back in the day when the practice of politics in this country was somewhat more civilised than it is today there was a convention that an incoming Taoiseach (and by extension his Cabinet) was allowed a 'honeymoon' period during which the new incumbent and his Ministers were treated with kid gloves as they eased themselves into their jobs.
Not so nowadays. The Taoiseach’s wife and children were still in the Dáil chamber when the backbiting and recrimination commenced. Given the circumstances in which Simon Harris became Taoiseach, with the Dáil in its death throes and with no more than 11 months to linger on, it is understandable that the 'honeymoon' period would be brief. But, would it have been too much to expect that our new Taoiseach would have been allowed 24 hours to wallow in the glory of his successful rise to the top?
My regular readers, in whom I am well pleased, will know from earlier columns that I have grave reservations about Mr Harris as Taoiseach. It is not my concern how he gets on as leader of his party. He is the golden boy (and boy is not out of place!) of Fine Gael right now and his supporters, quite reasonably, will neither hear, nor see any issues or problems. Good for them.
How he measures up as Taoiseach is a different matter. Every Irish person has a vested interest in the success or otherwise the Taoiseach makes of his task of running the country. I hope he does well because it is important that this country enjoys progress in the days ahead. We can’t hope to house the homeless without a successful government, we can’t hope to improve the delivery of top class health services without a successful economy, we can’t hope to deal with the migrant issue, with poverty and the social issues arising from same, with education issues, with farmer unrest and with the impending doom for future generations because of an abject failure to seriously address climate change.
That abject failure is not simply a matter for government intervention. It is a matter for every citizen to become aware and play their part in seeking to ensure that our generation which, in my case, will not suffer the consequences of ignoring the warnings of the scientists and the Greta Thunbergs of this world. It is our children’s children and their children who will suffer for our selfish refusal to take the issue of climate seriously.
But to get back to the matter of the elevation of our new Taoiseach. I have to admit that I did not carefully study the form in the Dáil. I did not see the Taoiseach’s address nor the response from Mary Lou. I saw bits and pieces of Holly Cairns, the Soc Dems leader and Ivana Bacik of Labour. Holly Cairns did not seem to have any interest in the proceedings and failed to exhibit any enthusiasm either for or against Simon Harris. She seemed to me like a lady who might soon follow in the footsteps of Leo Varadkar and ride off into the sunset.
From the bits of TV I saw, the standout performer by a country mile was Michael Healy Rae. He did not open his mouth. He did not bat an eyelid. He sat stony faced under his cap, not a flicker of a smile, not a glimmer of emotion, not a twitch of a nostril nor an eyebrow as his great advocate and sibling Danny and fellow rural first responder, Matt The Thresher, sang his praises as they proposed and seconded his nomination as Taoiseach. The Kingdom of Kerry, quite rightly, decided that the position of Taoiseach was too important to be simply rubber-stamped into office.
Michael sat stony (marble) faced as the Venus De Milo and accepted at face value the wonderful tributes and accolades heaped upon him by Danny and Mattie McGrath. What he thought of while he was eulogised is impossible to tell as his face displayed absolutely no emotion. But while his Kerry cuteness would have grasped how absurd and pointless the efforts of his benefactors were, he might also have reflected on his merits as a successful businessman, as a representative of his constituents, on his ability, by sheer dent of hard work and commitment, to establish a loyal following of voters who may well outlast the simple TikTok Simon followers.
I’d have to say and, I suppose in saying, all I’m doing is displaying my ignorance of these new technologies, but while our new Taoiseach could not find time to attend the Dáil, he could and did go on TikTok to deliver a message (to his followers?). I’m not sure what the message was but it won’t go down in history as one his finest moments. Then again, maybe it was not Simon at all. Maybe it was a troll. We can’t be sure, or so I’m told!
But enough of that. I’m old enough to have been enthralled by John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in and to have enjoyed many of those great Westerns that did not glorify in the genocide of the indigenous American tribes. I sort of drew the line under these “great” films after reading the book by Dee Browne, . After that I could rejoice somewhat when Custer was defeated by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at the battle of the Little Big Horn. Those were the great films of my day. Spectaculars in glorious living colour.
Nowadays, films come via the small screen and one gets to see them when RTÉ gets around to it. I’m not into Netflix, or Disney or those other cash cows that make films which are, now more than ever, all about making money. I have not seen but that’s not a problem. Cillian Murphy has been awarded an Oscar for his performance. Fair dues Cillian.
I have not seen yet. Gabriel Byrne, Brendan Gleeson, Fiona Victory, Colm Meaney, Aiden Gillen and Ciarán Hynes have blazed a trail for the Colin Farrells, the Paul Mescals, the Barry Keoghans and a host of others to strut their stuff on the international stage while people like Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan and Lenny Abrahamson have won worldwide acclaim as film directors. We can and should bask in their glory.
Taoiseach Charlie Haughey started the ball rolling with his, at the time, much derided Tax Exemption for Artists Act. Our present President, Michael D Higgins, provided a timely boost to the arts, when he was appointed Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in the ‘90s. The current string of successful Irish writers owe much to Haughey and Higgins. As a people we can be grudging of success. This is a time to rejoice.
There was a bit of the Veni, Vidi, Vici look to Mayo’s trip to New York for the first round of the Connacht championship. I came, I saw, I conquered and I left with the spoils of battle.
Mayo could do no more that beat New York. It was the inevitable and expected outcome. Whether they won by 15 or 25 points was of no significance and despite what Kevin McStay and his team might think, there was very little to learn.
What will be of concern, as the team faces more significant challenges in the weeks ahead, is the concession of two excellent second half goals by New York. Both were well constructed and superbly finished. They were in complete contrast to the muddled and trifling efforts of the Mayo forwards in front of the New York goal. There’s work to do before the visit to Hyde Park.
Ní hé lá na gaoithe, lá na scoilibe.
