February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Ahern has endured constant sniping from Fianna Fail backbenchers since June’s disappointing council elections. They argue that the party is losing ground to Sinn Fein because it is in thrall to its government coalition partners, the Progressive Democrats, when it comes to the big policy decisions.
Ahern appears to have done little to assuage fears that the PDs are still in a position to call the shots at the cabinet table. While the PDs’ biggest ideological ally within Fianna Fail, former Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy, is now in an European posting, several other Fianna Fail cabinet members with PD leanings have retained their places at the table.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell, of the PDs, looks set to remain in situ until the next Dail election, expected sometime in 2006 or ’07.
More alarming, for those who had been hoping for a more socially conscious cabinet lineup, renowned free marketer and PD leader Tanaiste Mary Harney has been appointed to oversee the Department of Health.
So-called “crypto-PDs” such as former transport minister (now social and family affairs minister) Seamus Brennan and Martin Cullen are still on board.
Brennan was reportedly up for the chop last Wednesday morning before Harney stepped in at the last minute to urge his retention as a cabinet member. According to weekend reports, Brennan threatened to quit the Dail if Ahern pushed forward with plans to sack him.
Former PD Martin Cullen now finds himself looking after Brennan’s old transport portfolio, where he will be dealing with the government’s proposed breakups of Aer Rianta and CIE.
Harney reportedly went after the health portfolio. She is unlikely to have faced much competition for the post. Once described by Brian Cowen, who held it for a time, as “Angola” — for its tendency to throw up landmines — it is no place for the fainthearted.
Harney will have to get her head around the on-going accident and emergency ward crisis, changes to the medical card program, the antsy consultant lobby and the small matter of the Hanly report on medical care reform.
She has been bullish about her chances of overcoming the immediate challenges. Few of Harney’s colleagues doubt that she is capable of implementing radical change. However, this is exactly what Fianna Fail’s more left-of-center members fear.
Harney moved to calm concerns that she is about to wreak havoc on the Irish health service. She told the Dail last week that she was not an “ideologue” and that her policies would be driven by common sense.
“The one thing I want for the country that I love is to have a health service that is accessible to every citizen, regardless of their wealth,” she said.
No doubt aware of the pressure the PDs have put on the Fianna Fail brand, she stressed, “We are a compassionate, caring and sensible government.”
Nonetheless Ahern’s reshuffle has unsettled many Fianna Failers. Many assumed that Ahern had pledged to chart a new path of social conscience. He invited Fr. Sean Healy of the Council of the Religious of Ireland to Fianna Fail’s annual get-together in September. Healy is a long-time critic of the laissez-faire economics associated with the PDs and lectured Fianna Fail delegates on the need to protect the vulnerable in Irish society.
Dermot Ahern, now minister for foreign affairs, had also weighed in over the summer with his implicit criticisms of PD policy in a keynote speech in June.
The promotion and demotion of the various junior ministers without apparent regard to securing regional votes in the next general election has also raised eyebrows.
It had been assumed that Ahern would move to shore up Fianna Fail support in vulnerable Dail constituencies. Instead, he chose to move people back and forth between the junior ministries and the cabinet table. He only wielded the axe once.
The sacking came in Donegal, where former Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism Jim McDaid got his marching orders. McDaid had been demoted to junior minister two years ago and was sent on his way despite the anger of his constituents.
Observers note that no representative from the Tipperary North, Carlow-Kilkenny, Cork South West, Sligo, Roscommon or Leitrim constituencies is to be found among the junior minister ranks.