The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Promotions, retirements and the year in politics
THE last 12 months haven’t exactly been a vintage year for politics in Kerry and those with an interest in the great game won’t have found much to keep them entertained in the Kingdom.
Obviously, the farcical situation that was allowed develop around Frances Fitzgerald and her handling of the Maurice McCabe emails will likely be what 2017 is most remembered for nationwide.
The scandal – which nearly saw the country plunged into a deeply undesirable Christmas election – threw the cat among the political pigeons and as we enter the new year the main parties, both locally and nationally, remain firmly on an election footing.
While we know who most of the main contenders for Kerry’s five seats will be whenever the starting gun is fired on an election, there remains some uncertainly about just who all the local runners and riders will be in the race for Leinster House.
The early months of 2017 will see a lot of moving and shaking behind the scenes as potential candidates – mainly in Fianna Fáil and the decimated Labour Party – seek to secure a nomination for a Dáil run.
All eyes are currently on Kerry Independent Alliance Councillor Michael Gleeson who is widely tipped to throw his hat into the ring and who surprised many when he sat out the last General Election campaign.
Many feel that Cllr Gleeson’s decision not to run in the wake of Tom Fleming’s retirement from politics opened the door for Danny Healy-Rae’s surprise victory.
If Gleeson does run – which is now widely expected – Deputy Healy-Rae will find himself under pressure to retain his seat with a strong and highly capable opponent in his heartland.
It could be a very interesting battle and one would still have to back the elder HealyRae brother to keep his seat, especially given the Kilgarvan dynasty’s blitzkrieg victory in February 2016.
For his part, Danny Healy- Rae was also involved in one of the more colourful political debates of the year when he suggested, to much ridicule nationally, that eating before driving was as dangerous as having a few pints before getting behind the wheel.
The remarks in May saw Deputy HealyRae pilloried in the press and dragged his previous proposal to give rural drivers a drunk driving exemption back into the political discourse.
His comments eventually led to a lengthy spat with Transport Minister Shane Ross who described the Kerry TD’s remarks as ‘callous’ ‘unsympathetic’ ‘crazy fantasies’.
While the Healy-Raes tend to dominate political coverage in Kerry – and indeed nationally on many occasions – the year, obviously, wasn’t all about the south Kerry brothers.
One Kerry politician who has had a year to remember is Fine Gael’s Brendan Griffin.
The Keel TD was first elected in 2011 and many were surprised that the highly capable deputy wasn’t elevated by Enda Kenny in his 2014 reshuffle.
AS it turns out the young Kerry Deputy didn’t have to wait too long for advancement.
In Enda Kenny’s final year’s as Taoiseach Griffin had proved a considerable thorn in the side of the Mayo Taoiseach.
A member of the, so called, ‘five-a-side gang’ of FG TD’s elected in 2011 – the group took its name from the regular soccer games they played together – had been vocal proponents of Dáil reform and on more than one occasion members of the informal group had actively called for Kenny to step down and hand over the reins of power.
With the election of Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach in June, several members of the group – almost all of wham had supported Varadkar’s leadership bid – saw their loyalty rewarded with promotions.
Eoghan Murphy rose from relative obscurity to become Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government: Sean Kyne was appointed Junior Minister for Rural Affairs and Deputy Griffin was appointed to as Junior Minister for Tourism and Sport.
Though a junior ministry its a powerful one – able to dish out considerable amounts of funding – and a plum role for Griffin who essentially finds himself in charge of an entire Department while his Senior Minister Shane Ross focuses on Transport.
Griffin was understandably delighted at the news of his long awaited promotion to Ministerial ranks.
“I’m hugely delighted and very honoured to be appointed a Minister. I’m one of only a few Kerry politicians who have had that honour and I will do my very best to live up to the honour,” the new Minister told
The Kerryman at the time.
“I come from a family steeped in tourism - my father was the concierge at the Aghadoe Heights Hotel for 30 years - and I spent several years working at the coal face of tourism in Killarney myself. I’m also a huge sports fan. It’s daunting but I’m looking forward to getting to work,” Griffin said.
As one Kerry politician’s career took off, another long time Kerry TD brought his to a conclusion.
There had been much speculation that Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris wouldn’t stand at the next election and the suspicion was confirmed at the party’s Ard Fheis in October.
During a speech in which he declared his intention to step down as Sinn Féin leader, Gerry Adams surprised many in his audience when he announced that Deputy Ferris was also retiring from politics.
Ferris’ retirement brings down the curtain on a 15 year Dáil career that began when the convicted IRA gun runner sensationally knocked Labour’s Dick Spring out of his seat in 2002.
His retirement is unlikely to see the end of his family’s presence in Leinster House.
Deputy Ferris’ daughter Cllr Toiréasa Ferris – who had introduced Adam’s before his RDS speech – was this month formally picked to succeed her father and represent Sinn Féin in Kerry at the next election.