MICK Wallace brought a rare moment of jollity to Leinster House with
his cheeky plea for time out to cheer on the Boys in Green.
The developer-cum-politician had his tongue very firmly in his cheek
when he got to his feet in the Dail Chamber.
With a broad smile across his grizzled face, his tousled blond locks
almost tied in a pony-tail and his blue arm sling draped over his pink
shirt, he cut a comical figure.
His doomed request for a Summer recess during the Republic’s bid for
Euro 2012 glory got a look of bemusement from Eamon Gilmore.
But sitting beside the Tanaiste, poor Jimmy Deenihan nearly fell off
his chair as he cast a cold glance up at the soccer nut on the
Opposition benches.
The five-time All-Ireland winning football legend’s perplexed
demeanour melted as he quickly realised it was all a bit of a laugh.
Even Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett relaxed his increasingly cranky mood
to have a chortle as Mick got the red card and everyone settled down
for business as usual.
We can certainly do with an occasional distraction from the dour
proceedings in Leinster House in these dark days ahead of a
grab-what-you-can Budget..
Nine months on from the general election, the Government defence of
its handling of the economic melt-down is still largely based on the
blame game.
Almost every time Fianna Fail rounds on the Coalition over a pressing
issue the come-back invariably includes words to the effect that ‘it’s
all your fault anyway’.
When Micheal Martin went for the jugular as 20,000 students massed at
the Merrion Street gates of Leinster House, he got it in the neck as
usual.
Eamon Gilmore was having none of his latest role as the new-found
champion of students fighting a hike in fees.
Despite signing a pledge that there would be no increases – when it
looked like Fine Gael were on their way to single party Government –
the Tanaiste.was bullish.
Refusing to rule out any rise in fees, he told the Opposition leader
it was “the legacy which Deputy Martin and his party left to this
Government” in the Troika bailout deal..
But even as the stinging put-down was still ringing in his ears,
Micheal was at the centre of an extraordinary turn-about for a major
player in the administration blamed for all our woes.
When USI President Gary Redmond arrived at Government Buildings at the
head of his army of protesters, the first person to greet him was the
FF boss.
As he and almost all his fellow TDs mingled with the crowd, the former
Minister happily posed for photographs.
Ironically, as the party struggles to swiftly move on from the
economic bungling of the recent past, it was engaging in a bit of
internal mud-slinging itself.
The rush by former ministers to distance themselves from the chaotic
final days of the last administration in the RTE documentary Crisis:
Inside the Cowen Government was toe-curling.
Mary Hanafin and Mary O’Rourke’s searing criticism of former Taoiseach
Brian Cowen fot most attention, but they were nearly all at it to some
extent.
Even Mr Martin rubbished his predecessor, belatedly questioning his
budgetry record and moaning about the communication breakdown with
the barb: “Cowen did not believe in optics."
There was little sign within the Cabinet of his, or anyone else’s
misgivings, as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their then leader
through the bank guarantee and all the other crises.
One wonders whether it really matters in the greater scheme of things
what the Opposition has to say, or even what the Government believes
is the best way forward.
The debacle over the leaking of Budget proposals from the German
Bundestag underlines just how little real say Enda kenny and his team
have.
Thanks to signing away sovereignty to our money masters in Brussels
and Frankfurt, the finance ministers of all 27 EU states get to mull
over our Budget before the Dail knows anything about it.
With only 15 days to December 6, chances are we’ll get some more bad
news from a loose document circulating on the continental mainland.
Who knows, something might even emerge in Poland, co-host of the
soccer tournament Mick Wallace so desperately wants to tune into.
ENDS
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