Last to know: Calleary’s protest at ministry snub
Fianna Fáil TDs up in arms as Martin ‘ignores’ west of Ireland
FIANNA Fáil deputy leader Dara Calleary objected to being appointed Government Chief Whip during a tense meeting with newly elected Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
However, Mr Calleary was forced to accept the role as he was the last Fianna Fáil TD called to Government Buildings and Mr Martin had already allocated all his ministries. The long-serving Mayo TD told colleagues he was furious about the appointment but was left with no option but to accept the position as Mr Martin had no other ministries to offer by the time he was called to the Taoiseach’s Office.
Ministers who were appointed on Saturday afternoon said the Fianna Fáil deputy leader was “visibly angry” when they gathered in Government Buildings before returning to the National Convention Centre to be voted into office.
Mr Martin’s decision to appoint Mr Calleary as Chief Whip has been described by his party colleagues as an “appalling snub”.
The move also led to accusations that the new Government is ignoring vast areas of rural Ireland by failing to appoint a senior minister in Connacht or the north-west.
Fine Gael was also blindsided by the decision as it expected Mr Calleary to be given a ministry, which would mean the west is represented at Cabinet by a senior minister. Fine Gael did appoint Galway West TD Hildegarde Naughton as a super
junior minister responsible for roads.
In a statement, Ms Naughton described herself as the Government’s “most senior minister in the west of Ireland”.
However, she is a Minister of State and does not have full Cabinet responsibility or oversight of a government department.
The newly elected Government has come under sustained criticisms over the lack of representation at Cabinet for people living beyond the Shannon and along the west coast.
Yesterday, ministers were forced to deny rural Ireland was being left behind by the new Government.
Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen insisted the full roster of ministers has still to be decided and said the new Government will ensure “no region in Ireland is left behind”.
Climate Minister Eamon Ryan said: “I don’t think Government can ignore any part of the country”, but admitted it is “difficult to get geographic spread” in a three-party coalition.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are expected to appoint ministers of state from the regions in the coming days to ensure there is a better geographical spread of ministers.
However, Mr Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar only have seven positions to appoint and are faced with difficult choices after dozens of TDs were left disappointed when the Cabinet was announced.
A senior Fine Gael source last night said there “will be more people disappointed than promoted” when the next round of ministries is revealed.
Mr Martin will have a major battle on his hands dealing with the fallout from his Cabinet appointments.
Yesterday, long-serving TDs were angry over the Taoiseach’s appoint of first-time deputy Norma Foley as Education Minister and former Social Democrat leader Stephen Donnelly as Health Minister.
However, there was fury across the party over the appointment of Mr Calleary as Chief Whip rather than a full Cabinet minister.
The Government Chief Whip is paid the same as a minister of State (€134,976), which is more than €40,000 less than
a Cabinet minister (€175,699).
A senior FF TD said it was an “absolute disgrace” that the party’s deputy leader was the last to be called to Mr Martin’s office on Saturday.
“There was a poisonous atmosphere in the Convention Centre after the Cabinet was voted in,” another TD said.
“No one could understand why Micheál would do that to Dara,” the TD added.
Another TD said it was an “appalling public humiliation” of TD who “worked his b ****** s off” to get Mr Martin into the Taoiseach’s Office.
“People in the west are furious over what he did to Dara, and it makes a mockery of their supposed commitment to regional development,” the TD added.
The TD said people from across the west were calling and texting complaining about the decision to “shaft” Mr Calleary.
Another TD said Calleary should have told Martin to “f**k off and caused a mutiny”.
Mr Calleary has not spoken publicly about the appointment, but has told colleagues he objected to the position when it was offered to him by Mr Martin. He did not respond to calls last night.
A Fianna Fáil source said Mr Martin tried to appoint ministers who were suited to their roles. “He tried to appoint the best to the portfolios we have,” a source said.
“The Chief Whip is a super junior and Dara has great experience for a complex job involving the three parties.”
A newly-appointed Fianna Fáil minister said he could understand why Mr Calleary is “rightly annoyed”, but said he will “eventually make his peace” with the appointment and “do an excellent job”.
Meanwhile, the Government is facing criticism over its plan to spend €3m a year on 20 ministers of state, their advisers and drivers.
Labour Party leader Alan Kelly said here is “no evidence” that increasing the number of ministers of state leads to “better governance”.
“The new Government is returning to the same number of junior ministers as Brian Cowen and Bertie Ahern had. In the last global recession those numbers were cut by a quarter to 15,” Mr Kelly said.
“As we face a global recession post-Covid, I would question the need to have 20 junior ministers and no explanation has been put forward by the trio of leaders why they are creating new ministries,” he added.
He said there will be 40 drivers on around €35,000 and up to 20 special advisers on €80,000.