Earlier this week in the Irish Independent, Fionnan Sheehan – who I would have always counted as ridiculously anti Fianna Fail (at best) recounted a tale which Bertie Ahern told me himself at a wedding many moons ago now.
It related to a time when the late, great Jackie Healy-Rae was supporting an FF led Government. And, when the original bastion of the flat cap was in bother getting back from pressing the flesh at a funeral, himself and the equally lamented and missed Seamus ‘Mini’ Brennan came up with a plan to buy the relevant amount of time until the King of Kilgarvan was in situ to do his bit in return.
The current incarnation of the cap-wearing cowboys would have neither the intelligence or political nous to see beyond length of their considerable sniffers.
Yes, Jackie was well able to employ populism to his own advantage. Every politician does and if they don’t they’re not worth the ink on their canvass cards. But JHR knew how to play the long game too.
There’s more than Terry Keane and Ben Dunne who knew how to keep important people sweet. Would anyone Bank on a game of golf, for example?
But, anyone willing to take a step back and look at things objectively would surely cop that, for now at least, the Healy-Rae cute hoorism is codding nobody but themselves.
Now, the late Tony Gregory, in particular, gave lie to the theory that Independent TDs can’t really achieve anything in office, as did JHR, but only because they had the flexibility and compromise in them to be team players for the greater good when it suited their needs.
In contrast, you suspect that the only flexibility in Danny and – in particular – Michael Healy-Rae is the bank lodgement books folded over in their arse pockets!
You can’t toss both sides of the same coin. Especially now with technology and the amount of information freely available. So the current generation of the cap clan can hardly play the populist card whilst at the same time actually making money out of the very thing they are complaining about.
Look, I would have serious reservations about how elements of the Government handled the fuel protests. For one thing, I wouldn’t trust Jim O’Callaghan as far as I’d throw him. Frankly, I think he’s a wolf in sheeps clothing.
However, it must also be said that elements of the media – anarchist sh** stirring parts thereof – inflamed the situation and the arrogant, strong armed modus operandi of authoritive figures didn’t help either.
But here’s the thing, if Michael Healy-Rae felt protesters’ concerns were handled badly at Government level (as do I), jumping ship was the last thing he should have been doing. Stay in there. Fight their corner. By doing what he has done – complete with typical dramatic buffoonery – is he not in fact walking away from them? An Independent opposition TD can’t have much influence now, can they? See the likes of Mick Wallace, Clare Daly, Thomas Pringle and Joan Collins as reference points. Yes, that’s right, none of them are still there!
Finally, as somebody as somebody with a vested interest in the agriculture sector, it gives me no pleasure to say this, but I believe farmers in particular could’ve played their protest cards differently.
As much as the tractor and truck convoys were understandable, brilliant to see and as much as I wish I could have been in one of them, the best way to make an impact with those who either genuinely do not or choose not to understand is to hit them where it hurts.
Hold back milk supplies for one day, let the factories go without cattle or sheep throughput for a week. Right, so the No Farmers, No Food slogan is fairly self explanatory. But if that’s not hitting home, further steps must by taken. The simplest and most effective method of which is to lay out a few factors the non agriculturally inclined may not be aware of.
For example, the current liquid milk price paid to the producer varies from 37.5p with Kerry Group to 41c/L from Tirlan (formerly Avonmore and Glanbia) whereas a litre of milk in Tesco will currently set you back €1.08 while the more common and popular 2 litre can comes in at €2.25.
If you’re feeling generous and take the Tirlan price as your starting base, that gives the supermarket a 40c/L markup on 1 litre and 38.75c/L on 2 and even a further 10c/L on their 3 Litre option.
Even Aldi, who in fairness to them generally have prices tilted in favour of consumers, are still 85c for one litre and €1.19 for 2 litres.
Parking up their tractors is the least form of protest the farmers might take but, contrary to what he might think, Michael Healy-Rae will have done nothing for their plight by jumping ship.