Micheal Martin’s steel was forged in the fire of FF’s 2011 wipeout

FOUR words sum up the past two weeks: complicity, character, cowardice and civility. Concerned about complicity to put a cloud over Sergeant Maurice McCabe, Micheal Martin had the character to set off for goal. He beat Fine Gael defenders, faint-hearts in his own party, Sinn Fein, and finally Leo Varadkar. In victory, he showed a magnanimity that could help create a new political civility between the two main parties.

Let’s tease out these four words a bit more.

Complicity. Strikingly, this is Dictionary.com’s word of the year, defined as “being an accomplice; partnership or involvement in wrongdoing”.

Searches for complicity by silence spiked after

Saturday Night Live aired a fake Ivanka Trump commercial, promoting a scent called Complicit with the slogan ‘The fragrance for the woman who could stop all this, but won’t’.

Frances Fitzgerald received emails which indicated what many would see as proposed wrongdoing in relation to the reputation of Maurice McCabe. She was wrong not to challenge this.

So was Leo Varadkar — who continues to defend Fitzgerald’s failure to intervene, dumping his political problem on Mr Justice Peter Charleton.

The Taoiseach seems to think that Charleton can “vindicate” Fitzgerald. But she’s not charged with breaking any law, except possibly some moral law.

She can’t be vindicated on the charge of fence-sitting by any power on earth because the email evidence shows she’s guilty as charged.

Any sympathy the public had for her drained away as she and her FG supporters went on denying she had done anything wrong.

As Alison O’Connor observed, “This is rather high risk, not to mention typically arrogant Blueshirt strategy — keep brazening it out”.

By brazening it out Fine Gael added to the anguish of McCabe and his family watching at home. Because every blow struck in the Dail row was either for or against Maurice McCabe.

Character. Defined as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, Martin’s calm character perfectly fitted him for the forensic task of taking down the Tanaiste without leaving the house in ruins.

Fintan O’Toole sold himself and Martin short by depicting the latter’s call for accountability as a tribal row between FG and FF.

It was something better than that. The Dail needed to enter a discomfort zone, risking a Christmas election, to show McCabe it was on his side.

Sinn Fein could not pass a motion of no confidence on its own, even if its hands were clean.

They were not clean. The party includes members who defended the murderers of Det Sgt Jerry McCabe.

Micheal Martin was the only politician who could effectively call the Government to account for failing to protect Maurice McCabe’s good name.

Like a Toledo blade, a person’s character is forged by fire. The continence of Martin’s character comes from his baptism of fire when he took over Fianna Fail, a month before it was almost wiped out in the inferno of 2011.

Martin has stoically spent much of the past 10 years apologising for what happened on Fianna Fail’s watch, ignoring the party loudmouths who felt no apology was needed.

But Martin knew politics is not about being fair. It’s about perception — and the public saw Fianna Fail through a glass darkly.

In contrast Leo Varadkar’s character has been formed by having things too cushy in his political, if not his personal, life so far.

He also suffers from a corporate view of public service. In the course of his courageous coming out interview with Miriam O’Callaghan in 2015, he said that he wanted to be out of politics by the time he was 51.

But 50 is the beginning of the wisdom years, the best years for political leaders as well as for Garda Special Branch officers.

Cowardice, defined as moral cowardice, saturated this story. What was most striking was the callous indifference shown by politicians and political pundits to what McCabe might be feeling.

It must have been hard for McCabe not to think we were hypocrites as he watched politicians and pundits whingeing about a Christmas election, and belittling Martin’s stance.

‘The Leo stardust looked more like political dandruff’

The Taoiseach, too, was morally cowardly in defending Fitzgerald’s fence sitting. But by Tuesday the Leo stardust was looking more like political dandruff.

A few Fianna Fail fainthearts showed the same myopia. Darragh O’Brien wrung his hands, wishing it would all go away. Stephen Donnelly parroted, without qualification, the media mantra that “nobody wants a Christmas election”.

So what? In my long experience, nobody ever wants a general election.

Second, did it not strike them that Maurice McCabe and his family, watching at home, would see them as cosy politicians putting their Christmas comfort before his right to a reputation?

They should have followed the stand-up politicians in Fianna Fail — Dara Calleary, Thomas Byrne, Robert Troy and Jim O Callaghan — who in effect told the media cynics:

“Look, nobody wants an election, but if an election is necessary to hammer home how seriously we take Maurice McCabe’s good name then we will put our trust in the Irish people.”

The stand-ups read it doubly right as polls showed the public would blame Fine Gael more than Fianna Fail for an election.

O’Brien and Donnelly have form in rushing too quickly to join a media consensus that turns out to be hollow. They should remember the rule: join the army wear the boots.

The media consensus also seemed reluctant to give any clear credit to Micheal Martin. Here is Richard Downes reporting for Prime Time last Tuesday, in the teeth of Martin’s success:

“There’s already much talk of the damage to Leo Varadkar, and some scrutiny of Micheal Martin’s move to pre-empt the Sinn Fein attack on the Dail.” (My italics.)

Why would RTE seek to present a victorious Martin as being under some kind of cloud for his coup in outfoxing Sinn Fein?

Not for the first time, Martin has been treated unfairly by the national broadcaster. Last June, I complained that a crucial joint press briefing by Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin had not been covered by RTE News. Downes’s boss, David Nally, head of RTE TV current affairs, dismissed this as untrue and rejected my claim that Martin had been unfairly treated.

Later, under pressure, Nally admitted the briefing was ignored but without giving me any apology for his “mistake”. Civility to critics seems to be low on the RTE agenda.

Civility. Political civility calls for courtesy between rivals. Most of our myths about our political foes cannot survive talking to them politely, face to face — although I can think of a few personal exceptions, involving senior republicans.

As is often the case with men, the row between Varadkar and Martin helped clear the air and created a new civility.

Contrary to what the lemming pundits predict, the current Government will last at least another year. The announcement of a necessarily fudged deal on Brexit next week will help.

But the Taoiseach is still running risks by defending Fitzgerald. Last Thursday, Martin warned Fine Gael to stop talking about her vindication. He did it gently so as not to destroy the good mood of the moment. But he should not be taken for a pushover a second time.