The man who would be king... Micheál Martin talks to Simon Brouder
IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SIMON BROUDER MICHEÁL MARTIN DISCUSSES KENNY, BREXIT, BUSES BROADBAND AND THE FLIGHT FROM RURAL IRELAND
DURING his visit to Tr a lee last week Fianna Fáil leader Mic heal Martin sat down for an extensive interview with Simon Brouder.
What effect do you think the leadership question in Fine Gael is having on the Government?
Micheál Martin: I was very concerned to read that privately a number of ministers were admitting that a degree of paralysis had set in Government and no decisions were being taken because of the uncertainty in Fine Gael.
That’s a serious issue and I think Fine Gael have to step up to the plate now and keep the focus on key issues that affect people such as homelessness, housing, health education and special needs. These are the core issues and our task is to keep Fine Gael focussed on them.
Are Fine Gael members too focussed on internal party matters?
Micheál Martin: We have an obligation to put the country before the party and I think there has been an over emphasis in Fine Gael on the party as opposed to the country. They need to get back now and focus on the issues.
Fianna Fáil have appointed their own Brexit spokesman how do you feel the Government is reacting to the Brexit issue?
Micheál Martin: There is no doubt that the biggest generational challenge to the country is Brexit and I think the Government lost an opportunity to bring that home to people in the budget. By that I mean there should have been a separate fund put aside because companies will need help in the adaptation to a post Brexit world.
The next year or two might be OK because Britain hasn’t quite left and won’t have left we’re in a calm before the storm environment.
Given recent events do you feel Enda Kenny has been able to devote enough time to the Brexit issue?
Micheál Martin: It must be very difficult. Putting out fires in Fine Gael seems to have been his main agenda. My own observation having been in Government is that one of the things we do not do well in Ireland is joined up thinking.
Every minister has their own task in relation to their own departments so sometimes it can be hard to get shared activity on a joined up project.
So there should be a separate Minister for Brexit?
Micheál Martin: It is a once in a generation issue and I think you need somebody with an exclusive focus on it, who can pull all the various strands together in Ireland and engage with London, the EU, Northern Ireland and more generally.
If Britain leaves the customs union there will be a border. All the fine language and all this talk of it being as frictionless as possible doesn’t count for much because the customs union involves a common external tariff across Europe and that means a border, unless people can come up with creative solutions.
Do you think that a ‘hard Brexit’ is inevitable?
Micheál Martin: We have to prepare for a hard Brexit. If it doesn’t happen so be it. One of the issues I have with the Government is there’s too much soft soaping, nice language and wishing for the best outcome.
Ireland can benefit from Brexit but the Government don’t seem too keen to admit how this can happen. For example they’ve denied the IDA are ‘poaching’ jobs from the UK. Isn’t that the IDA’s job and isn’t that exactly what they should be doing?
Micheál Martin: “Of course they should be and I think there’s a degree of politeness at government level about what is happening.
What about the view that the IDA is too Dublin centric and that if a UK firm is ‘poached’ the regions are unlikely to benefit ?
Micheál Martin: There is a greater willingness among financial services to go outside of Dublin. Take the example of Fexco in Killorglin, that’s the greatest illustration of the capacity of Kerry to take financial services and I think we need to be communicating that to people in London.
There’s the IT in Tralee and also Kerry’s proximity to the IT and University in Cork which means there’s a pool of graduates nearby that can come to Kerry.
Dublin also has a problem with accommodation so I think there’s a lot of reasons for firms to establish in Kerry.
We’ve also got to reward companies who have been here for the long haul in rural areas. One of the ways to do that and facilitate further investment is to improve the infrastructure around them
Many in Kerry don’t have any faith in the IDA’s ability to bring jobs to the county and they’d argue that, in terms of attracting investment, Kerry has been abandoned since Shannon Development was dissolved. What would you say to that?
Micheál Martin: Shannon Development had a regional focus to it. The trade-off in getting Shannon Airport up and running as its own entity was the loss of the at regional and local development focus that Shannon Development had and that wasn’t good for Kerry and the entire region at all.
Development has to be regional. For example, Limerick, Cork and Kerry should be, for want of a better description, an opposite pole to Dublin.
So you do agree there is a two tier Ireland – Dublin and the rest of the country?
Micheál Martin: Yes and we have to break that paradigm. It’s not easy but we have to try and do it.
The current situation is not sustainable and we’ll be turning off the lights in rural Ireland if we continue the way we are going.
We all know young people who go up to Dublin to work don’t have a penny at the end of the week after they pay the rent. They’re glad of the work but the reality of life in Dublin – after the initial glitz is over and you’ve had a few nights in Coppers – is hard. It’s hard to make ends meet.
So what can be done to help rural Ireland?
Micheál Martin: Broadband is a key to it. There’s a big tender to go out for broadband but it’s taking forever.
I remember telling people year’s ago please don’t tell people you’ll have the Broadband Roll out sorted by 2021 if you won’t.
It’s time to get off the pot and get it sorted. This is the number one enabler of jobs in rural Ireland and helping people migrate back to the regions
Transport is also a key issue in rural Ireland how do you think Minister Ross has handled the Bus Eireann dispute so far?
Micheál Martin: Ross has been Pontius Pilate. He’s hiding behind a fig leaf of industrial relations. I believe in having a state owned transport company and we’re committed to a publicly supported public transport network but we haven’t got the same commitment from Fine Gael
Does the support of a state funded transport network feature in Fianna Fáil’s confidence and supply deal with Fine Gael? Is it a red line issue for you?
Micheál Martin: It’s not part of the confidence and supply arrangement – the core issues in this dispute weren’t known when we were in negotiations – but we are not prepared to stand over the undermining of the public transport system.
The bottom line is we know from the regions and rural Ireland – and from European experience – that you need a healthy mix of private and public services and on some of the routes involved here you need stronger PSO contributions.
Many rural communities have already lost their post offices, garda stations and many other services. A lot of people in towns and villages are now resigned to losing their bus services too. They’d be of the view that if Dublin didn’t help us before why would it now? Can you understand where that pessimism comes from?
Micheál Martin: I can and it’s a fair point. Did the Luas and Dublin Bus situations get resolved because they were in Dublin? I don’t know.
More has to be done to meet rural Ireland’s needs and listen to the people in these communities.
Finally, if media coverage is to be believed, we came very close to a general election last month. If a snap election was to be announced tomorrow just how prepared are Fianna Fáil in Kerry ? Would you prefer a few more years to get ready?
Micheál Martin:
An election was close, very close. If it happens it happens, we’re all adaptable creatures and we’ll get on with it but we have work to do to prepare ourselves nationally and in Kerry.
We were coming from a difficult low base with no seat in Kerry but we’ve now put roots down. I think we can strengthen our performance next time out but we’ve a distance to go yet and we understand the challenge.