Ó Broin’s humble pie may not be enough to win over the doubters
WE witnessed a large dollop of humble pie last week. The usually ubiquitous and loquacious Sinn Féin TD, Eoin Ó Broin, was keeping his head down.
It was left to his party colleague David Cullinane – himself not unknown for the odd foot-in-mouth moment – to let us know that Ó Broin had written a letter of apology to the State’s chief economist, John McCarthy.
Readers will recall that Mr Ó Broin, castigated Mr McCarthy, a highly regarded public servant, in front of an audience at the Day and Night festival in Roscommon, alleging that Mr McCarthy knows nothing about housing and arrogantly adding that public servants who give ‘bad advice’ should be sacked.
In this column a few weeks ago, well before the controversy really took off, I expressed disquiet about Mr Ó Broin’s very public and personalised attack on a named senior public servant. I welcome his volte face. No doubt he will be more careful in future about giving us the benefit of his intellect.
He was clearly was brought to book by the powers that be in Sinn Féin. Very quickly, several of his colleagues distanced themselves from his remarks. It was left up to Mr Ó Broin’s partner, Senator Lynne Boylan, to try to defend him. Her attempt turned out to be somewhat hamfisted in that she had to retract her initial – incorrect – assertion that Mr Ó Broin had not named Mr McCarthy at the event.
And she added to the disquiet by trying to pass off his remarks as having been made ‘in a tent’ – whatever that had to do with it.
Infallible
While I’m not suggesting for one minute that civil servants are infallible, I do believe that most people understand that they generally do a good job, and that they act as a necessary check and balance system, curtailing any unwarranted excesses of our political class.
As I said before, there should always be a separate but respectful relationship between senior public servants and politicians. Each has a job to do but they have to act jointly in policymaking, especially when it comes to spending taxpayers’ money.
Hence, in Mr Ó Broin’s case, instead of publicly mouthing off about a senior public servant whose advice he doesn’t agree with, he should make cogent arguments to counter that advice and to prove his case.
I’ve no doubt that Mr Ó Broin’s boss, Mary Lou McDonald, quickly realised the potential political damage that his remarks could do to Sinn Féin’s prospects at the next election. The party is riding high in the polls, but a lot of that support is coming from younger, noncommitted floating voters.
Indeed, many of these could very well be public servants who might have been inclined to vote for Sinn Féin. Having heard Mr Ó Broin’s musings, they might be somewhat more circumspect in their voting preferences in the privacy of the polling booth. If it’s John McCarthy for the chop one day, it could very well be any other civil servant in future.
I have no doubt the Government parties were delighted to see Mr Ó Broin and Sinn Féin squirming on this one. It is an extra point of attack available to them in their quest to convince the floating electorate of the dangers of Sinn Féin in Government.
There are many voters of my generation who have lived through the horrors of the Troubles and will never vote for Sinn Féin. That is clear from polling results. But at the same time, there are many others who have no memory or experience of the party’s murky past. They might feel they are ‘worth a punt’ the next time.
Consequently, they might adopt the attitude that the current big two, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, have been there too long.
But they would do well to look across the water to Britain to see what can happen in lightning speed to the ‘mother of all parliaments’, when arrogant politicians are allowed to assume power and choose to ignore the advice, honestly given, by the public service.
Boris Johnson got rid of most who disagreed with him. Liz Truss’s dramatic fall from power was accelerated by her doing exactly what Eoin Ó Broin was suggesting: get rid of anyone who disagrees with you.
In one of her first acts, Ms Truss sacked the UK’s Treasury secretary, Tom Scholar.
Her sidekick, Kwasi Kwarteng, ignored all advice from various public servants and advice bodies, which quickly spooked the international financial markets. The entire Truss edifice began to crumble.
It is an inevitable reaction of any newly elected government to want to hit the ground running, and newly minted ministers might be suspicious of civil service advice given to them in their first few weeks in office.
But unless they quickly come to the realisation that they must work with the civil servants around them, they are doomed, as happened with Truss and co.
The incumbent Government here can also dine out on its competence, especially with regard to its handling of the economy, gently comparing it to the upheaval across the water.
Mr Ó Broin, until now, has been lauded in some sections of the commentariat. He will have learned a salutary lesson. Think longer before you speak. Don’t arrogantly dismiss advice from someone patently more experienced than you.
It’s often said that the longer a government is in office, the less electable it is. But with all to play for in targeting floating voters, own goals such as Mr Ó Broin’s must have made some public servants wary of him and his ilk. His unwise comments may help the incumbent parties to convince some floating voters to stick with the Government parties.
Largesse
The most recent polls show that the Government’s recent budgetary largesse has had a substantially positive effect on the public’s attitude. With more direct payments to come from the State coffers to every household in the country, don’t be surprised if the Government parties continue to turn the tide in their favour.
Just before the 2002 election, as Social Welfare Minister, I oversaw some of the largest social welfare increases ever. Take it from me, do not underestimate the power of cash in the pockets and bank accounts of voters. We romped home in that election. Many put that down to the fact that hundreds of thousands of households received cash from the Government in the few weeks before Election Day.
I’d hazard a guess that if the direct cost-of-living payments keep coming, the Government’s star will continue to rise.
And if current trends continue, I’ve no doubt that it’s all to play for in the run-up to the next election. I believe Sinn Féin will have a much closer battle on its hands than most pundits believe.
In recent times, Sinn Féin figures have been assiduously trying to get across the idea that theirs is a party of government. They have tried to tone down their rhetoric in order to reach out to Middle Ireland.
They have been doing the rounds of corporate Ireland’s boardrooms suggesting that businesses need not worry about them. They have, apparently, been making themselves less available to the media, obviously adopting the attitude that ‘less is more’ as we get closer to the election.
Mary Lou has been trying to keep a tight ship in order to avoid unforced errors.
But every now and again, one of them, like Eoin Ó Broin, slips the leash. The last thing Sinn Féin needs is a big own goal like this to frighten a large chunk of the floating voters.