Sported needed a dedicated minister

LET’S be honest – we all knocked great fun out of it didn’t we? The meltdown in Mayo was a sight to see. Local politicos saying that the Taoiseach – the leader of the country and, indeed, their own party – would be best advised not to show his face in Mayo. People in Mayo were genuinely (and hilariously) miffed that Dara Calleary – the deputy leader of Fianna Fáil – was not made a cabinet minister and was instead saddled with the responsibilities of Chief Whip.

It was one of the most bizarre little incidents we can recall in Irish politics and the really curious thing about it is that, for all the talk about there being no minister west of the Shannon, people (including even the man selected for the post) seemed so determined to downplay the significance of the Chief Whip’s role.

The Chief Whip sits at Cabinet – as a non-voting member – and holds huge sway over the legislative agenda of the government. He’s responsible for getting legislation through the house, getting TDs to vote when they’re supposed to and to vote the way they’re supposed to. Chief Whip is a real job, not some afterthought and especially not in a three-party coalition. Despite his evident disappointment, Calleary may well end up being one of the most important and in-demand members of the government. That being the case then it hardly fills one with confidence that when the junior ministerial jobs were doled out last week – cue more hilarious hissy fits from politicians throughout the country – the Chief Whip was also handed responsibility for Sport and Gaeltacht affairs.

As disconcerting as it was to see how little store the new government would set on sport from a reading of the Programme for Government, as disconcerting as it was to see Sport included in a real ragtag department with way too much on its plate as it is – the Department for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht – it’s even more disconcerting to see sport added to the responsibilities of a man who stands to be fairly busy as it is.

Admittedly it’s not that unusual for a Chief Whip to take on another responsibility – the out-going Chief Whip also had responsibility for the Gaeltacht – but the addition of two extra roles to Deputy Calleary seems like overkill.

At a time when responsibility for sport was being moved from one department to another, at a time when sport faces some very serious challenges in the age of the pandemic, surely sport at least deserved a junior minster who could devote more of his time to it.