NO LOCAL VOICE AT CABINET TABLE
FOLLOWING the announcement of Government Ministers and Junior Ministers last week, the Model County has been left without a voice around the cabinet table for the first time in a decade.
Wexford is one of just five counties in Ireland – alongside Tipperary, Roscommon, Louth and Clare – that has been left with no senior or junior ministries in this government.
The government make-up was an evident problem for the oft-neglected south east as a whole, with neighbouring Waterford managing just one junior ministry as Mary Butler was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Health, with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People. The Waterford TD received the role at the expense of Enniscorthy’s James Browne, who will feel aggrieved having put in a substantial effort as Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on mental health during the last government.
‘Of course, I’m very disappointed,’ Deputy Browne admitted. ‘I felt I had done enough to prove myself over the last few years. I think I was only the 17th TD in the history of the state to have a piece of legislation enacted into law from opposition. I served as the spokesperson for mental health and I feel that I represented Fianna Fáil very well in that portfolio. It’s very disappointing that Wexford and the south east have no senior minster at the cabinet table, especially when you have counties like Meath with two juniors and a senior. Geography seems to have come into it and the south east wasn’t dealt with fairly.’
The new Taoiseach Micheál Martin had previously spoken very highly of Deputy Browne on his many visits to Wexford and it therefore came as a shock that he wasn’t in line for a position.
‘I think we all maybe felt we were in a good position listening to his comforting words,’ Deputy Browne said. ‘I spoke to Micheál afterwards and told him how disappointed I was and that I thought I had done enough to be given the role.’
‘I certainly won’t be feeling sorry for myself though. I’m aware there’s plenty of people losing their businesses and jobs out there and I still have a very good job. I’ll dust myself off now and continue to be a voice for the people of Wexford in Dáil Eireann and work even harder to ensure that next time it’s simply not possible to be overlooked when positions are being handed out. It’s not the right approach to moan or complain about it, it’s to stand out even more. I won’t just rant and rave in the Dáil either. Sometimes the shouting can be mistaken for action, but the hard work is really done behind the scenes and I’ll continue to do that.’
‘The lack of a voice at the cabinet table does concern me,’ he continued. ‘The south east region is one of the poorer regions and it does need special attention. I will certainly continue to make sure that Wexford issues are heard in the Dáil and with ministers and I will harass and harangue them until the job is done. Whether it’s a Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or Green minister, I will hold all of them to account and will call them out if I feel an issue is not being dealt with,’ he said.
Wexford’s only other hope of a Junior Minister was Fine Gael’s Paul Kehoe who has been an ever-present at the cabinet table since 2011. However, with three parties scrapping for positions, perhaps the writing was on the wall for the Enniscorthy man and he opted to rule himself out of the running for a position early on.
‘I’ve thought long and hard about it,’ Deputy Kehoe said. ‘We sat down with Leo and when he said that there wasn’t a senior position at the cabinet table for me, I told him I had made my mind up there and then and didn’t want to be considered for a junior ministry.’
‘I have a young family,’ he explained. ‘The children are nine, eight and six now. It’s a busy household and I want to focus on that for a while. If there was one positive from Covid, it was that I got to spend more time at home with the family and it kind of made me realise what I’ve been missing out on.’
While there are concerns about the implications of Wexford not having a voice in the current government, Deputy Kehoe is confident that the Model County won’t be forgotten.
‘I feel I can do as much for Wexford now as I could when I was at the cabinet table,’ he said. ‘I can also focus a lot more on constituency work. When you’re a Minister of State you spend a lot of time outside of the constituency. Mondays were the only day I got to spend in Wexford. Now, I’ll be able to get through more constituency work and I know well how government works after the past nine years, so I’d be confident going forward.’
Looking back through the history books, periods where Wexford has not had a voice at the cabinet table over more than two decades have been few and far between. Fine Gael’s Michael D’Arcy also occupied a junior ministry in the last government and notably, Labour’s Brendan Howlin served as Minister for Public Expenditure from 2011 to 2016. Before that, Fianna Fáil’s Sean Connick served a year as Junior Minister for Fisheries, a brief that was also held by party colleague John Browne from 2002 to 2004. Browne then moved to a Junior Ministry at the Department of Agriculture, following a reshuffle by then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, before returning to his previous role in 2006 until 2008.
Going back a little further, Ivan Yates notably served as Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry from 1994 to 1997, a period which also saw Avril Doyle serve as a Junior Minister, while Brendan Howlin was Minister for the Environment from 1994 to 1997 and Minister for Health from 1993 to 1994.
The overwhelming conclusion is that Wexford is used to having a voice at cabinet level. Now, as we face into a period of financial uncertainty and a potential recession, that voice has been silenced. While there’s no doubt the five TDs will continue to lobby for Wexford in Dáil Eireann, it remains to be seen if this will have the same clout that comes with holding down a position within the government.
OF COURSE, I’M VERY DISAPPOINTED... I FELT I HAD DONE ENOUGH TO PROVE MYSELF OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS