There are occurrences in world history which – no matter how long may have passed since them – (a) you will never forget where you were when they happened and (b) will remain part of public discourse long after they actually happen.
Now, part a of the above may not apply in this case, but b most certainly will. Akin to the Good Friday Agreement or the Bank Guarantee or the collapse of a Government – such as the one which pre-empted the election of the Rainbow Coalition over the judicial appointment of Harry Whelehan.
However, what can – for the minute at least – be regarded as the seismic Irish political development of the current generation, Leo Varadkar’s bombshell decision to step down as Taoiseach and Fine Gael Leader, caught most people off guard. Perhaps even within his own party.
Being truthful, I can’t claim to be completely shocked. Though the timing is quite surprising. What with Local and European elections just around the corner and a General Election mandated within the next 18 months in any case.
I would have fully expected him to step down – as FG Leader at the very least – in the aftermath of said election. Expectation, and if I’m honest, hope, would be that Micheal Martin would do likewise.
That said, on a personal level, Leo’s decision to stand down is actually quite easy to understand. Being Ireland’s youngest premier at 37 is obviouslly a huge honour, he’s smart enough to know to get out of the hotseat when he’s young enough (45) to do whatever he should wish to.
Though his opponents will of course never agree, there is the sense that he has taken the current administration as far as is doable. That of course applies to Micheal also, but what they achieved as a combination is far from insignificant.
First and foremost, that they managed to get their respective parties to work together after generations of having the knife in each other when Michael Collins signed the six counties over to the Crown because Eamon De Valera either (i) didn’t want to do it even though the consequences of not doing so were probably obvious or (ii) knew it had to be done but hadn’t the balls to do it himself and so dispatched The Big Fella.
Either way, every so often, one cannot help but hear the Collins quote in the mind’s ear when he proclaimed he had “Just signed (his) own Death Warrant” and then ponder the question so eloquently posed in Johnny McEvoy’s beautiful ballad Michael -” Was it friend or foe who shot you down? “.
Over the years, between maturity of thought and self education my view on the whole matter has altered significantly. Still, it doesn’t alter the fact that it took bravery from both men to finally move on from so-called Civil War politics.
Not least because Dev’s grandson, Eamon O’Cuiv, was Deputy Leader of Fianna Fail at the time. You could hardly blame him for being vehementally opposed to sleeping with the enemy, as it were.
Regardless, when one thinks of matters such as the Covid-19 outbreak, the Same Sex Marriage Referendum and though the following will most likely always be a contentious one and with good reason, the Abortion vote.
That’s not, however, to even remotely suggest that there haven’t been issues upon which there was a collective failure under Mr Varadkar’s watch, but, whether you want to believe it or not, that happens under every Government.
In the case of the current administration, housing, the healthcare system and the cost of living crisis are among the items which will go in the debit column. Not to mention the near complete ignoring and demonising of rural Ireland by the dastardly third wheel in the current coalition.
Nonetheless, with the fullness of time, it is probable that history will look on Leo Varadkar’s leadership – and on the historic coalition he formed with Micheal – in a positive light. For all that though, the outgoing Taoiseach’s decision to, well, go out, does prompt quite the political conundrum mind you.
Do Fianna Fail and the other idiots, as coalition partners, simply allow Fine Gael go ahead and appoint – as seems likely – Simon Harris take over as an unelected Taoiseach – as happened with the Rainbow Coalition towards the back end of 1994? Or, as I would love to see them do, withdraw from Government, thereby instigating the election the so-called ‘opposition’ are seemingly baying for. They should be careful what they wish for, it’s not as easy as sitting on the ditch criticising.
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