Let the Euro entertainment show begin
THIS year’s European elections are already living up to their promise as being our f i nest source of f ree political entertainment.
The latest episode of this occurred courtesy of FF’s decision to select an ‘all-lads’ team of Barry Andrews, Barry Cowen and Billy Kelleher, on top of choosing another one of the lads, Thomas Byrne, to front up for the referendums.
After prodding from FG MEP Maria Walsh, one FF representative noted it was the latest example of how ‘sometimes this party is like being exiled on the set of Father Ted. If you’re not a lovely girl they get anxious’.
FG is engaged in battles of the political minnows (Regina Doherty and Josepha Madigan) and some senator, Barry Ward, to patch a European team together for its Dublin citadel. Regina would bring some spirit to the battle but the favourite status of Josepha means party strategists are casting anxious eyes in the direction of Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. There’s also the scramble between FF and FG to secure the golden calf of the Commissioner’s office.
European elections have seen many spats, but the gold standard was set by the response of FG old royalty Avril Doyle to a parvenue (and mere journalist) Mairéad McGuinness being added to the Fine Gael Leinster European ticket in 2004. Mairéad showed she had sharp elbows and the two colleagues got stuck into each other. Phil Hogan was purring l i ke a cat. He had already calculated that a war between the two FG candidates would increase the vote, seeing two ‘hers’ home.
THERE will be no shortage of spats and fear when it comes to our current races. The arm- wrestling within FG to run in Dublin may be more interesting than the election itself. For now, Josepha Madigan, with the support of constituency colleague Neale Richmond, is the favourite to jump the EU shark.
What will elevate this contest will be if the nervous party apparatchiks decide they need a bit of ‘sparkle’ on the ticket. It’s too much to pray for the return of Kate O’Connell. Strategists do note that were Leo Varadkar to run Kate, FG could secure the Clare Daly Independent vote as well as the declining FG vote. But someone between Kate and Leo would have to lift the phone, and though one incentive for Leo would be that if Kate is in Europe she would be far away, that’s unlikely to happen.
The departure of Deirdre Clune, of the Cork Barry dynasty, has created a local difficulty for FG. Senator Tim Lombard is needed to regain the Dáil seat in Cork South-West and the alternative to Lombard is Jerry Buttimer. So in the absence of any better options, speculation is growing that hurling hero Seán Óg Ó hAilpín could be a ‘shock’ candidate.
FF has its own even bigger soapopera via the potential synergies between a Barry Cowen and Lisa Chambers ticket, and how that will play out. As the spectre of Niall Blaney hovers in the background, we are sure Lisa is delighted to have such a supportive running mate, and that FF with such a united front will be looking to secure two MEP seats.
Outside of the SF slide, another dynamic will be seen in the Independent ranks. Should Michael Fitzmaurice declare for Midlands North-West, t he exchanges between the turf- cutters’ advocate and cannabis advocate Luke Ming Flanagan could set the new standard for blood-feuding.
The agony for Ming at the prospect of losing his European seat will not be eased by the fact that he claims he picked Fitzmaurice as his Dáil successor. Given that Fitzmaurice’s memory is different, it is unlikely we will ever see them being photographed again arm-inarm beside a bog.
As questions grow over the fate of the exotic experiment that is Mick Wallace and Clare Daly, support i s flowing towards a different species of ‘Ireland is full’style Independent. Contenders will be eyeing up the political perambulations of Peter Casey.
In the 2018 presidential race Casey was a phoenix for some and for others a vulture, as after expressing some concerns about Travellers his support rose from 2% to 23%. By 2020, Casey’s race was run in a face-off with Leo in Dublin West. He got 213 first preferences there and 1,142 first preferences in Donegal. Phoenixes can rise, and 10% is good enough for a European seat.
The anti- Casey i s Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, and never have we seen Labour so united in their determination to send Aodhán to Europe.
Another source of entertainment has been the uneasy Sinn Féin experience. During the surge, when it was taken as an article of faith that SF would win two seats in the capital, with Lynn Boylan accompanied by a crusading NGO or high-profile ‘human rights’ lawyer such as John Finucane, SF got councillor Daithí Dolan, whose career will i nspire much FG scrutiny. In Munster it has only acquired some Senator Paul Gavan as a replacement to the curiously disappeared Liadh Ní Riada. The Mary Lou brand must be strong to see these ones home – and it might not be.
There is one key reason for all the frenzy. The winner’s purse for an MEP isn’t small. A salary of €9,975 a month, a daily subsistence allowance of €338, travel expenses, medical expenses, a general expenditure allowance, a golden parachute allowance and a pension that kicks in when you are 63. Even this is topped by the land of milk and honey that comes with being a Commissioner. Look at the earning power of Phil Hogan – now earning more than he was prior to Golfgate.
WITHIN F F, conventional wisdom says that Michael McGrath is the favourite when it comes to making the choice between serving as Mary Lou’s deputy, continuing his 30-year apprenticeship under Micheál, or becoming his own boss in Europe. But Charlie McConalogue is also favoured on the basis that the enthusiasm of Pat the Cope Gallagher means switching ‘ the Quiet Man’ would cause the least amount of electoral trouble. The same principle is turning eyes towards Máire Geoghegan-Quinn – but do not rule out one surprise come-back.
Some in FF remain dubious about Mr Martin’s i ntentions when it comes to the EU Commission. Senior party figures believe that, ‘like Mary Robinson, he will be out the door early if there are bad European and local election results’. He is, they added, ‘looking at the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and from there on to the UN: the greatest- earning place of them all.’
When it comes to the golden ticket of the EU Commission, the scale of the prize is already generating tremors between FG and a Fianna Fáil party that thought it had landed its fish. But Fine Gael rarely lets jobs go easily, and even if FF secures the prize, the matter of who will get it may prove an even bigger source of ‘difficulty.’
It’s a battle worth the winners, given the basic salary is €257,688 plus a residential allowance of 15% of salary, a household allowance of 2% of salary, plus an entertainment allowance, a dependent child allowance, an education allowance and health insurance.
There wouldn’t be much change out of €500,000 a year – enough to tempt a relatively underpaid tánaiste or taoiseach.