EOGHAN HARRIS
WHO? Leo Varadkar or Simon Coveney? Of these two very different men, who would make a better leader of Fine Gael, and who a better Taoiseach?
These are not the same jobs. The first task of a Fine Gael leader is to win elections. The Taoiseach bit comes after that.
So the real question is, who is most likely to energise and excite the electorate — which, nowadays, mostly means winning the crucial general election television debates.
Here I am, not as certain as I was this time last year when the leadership race seemed relatively remote.
Back then, I reflexively supported fellow-Corkman Simon Coveney, without having to give the matter too much thought.
It helped that I had known his father Hugh, a man of high standards, and knew that Simon was cut from the same cloth.
But after Christmas, as the contest became closer, I began to dig a little deeper. The longer I pondered, the more I began to see Leo in a more positive light.
One the one hand, I admired Simon for the social conscience shining through his attack on the housing crisis. On the other, I also admired how Leo spoke up for Sergeant Maurice McCabe when it was not that popular in some media circles.
After that, I began to ask myself a more basic question. Of the two men, who would be best for the country? Here, let me pause to lecture the Trots.
Irish democracy has been well-served by having two large parties alternating in government with the help of the Labour Party and Independents.
Sadly, there are still studenty anoraks, mostly Trots or racist right-wingers who pine for sharper ideological divisions in Irish politics, preferably a polarisation of left and right.
To which I reply: You mean like the sharp division in 1930s Germany ? Or the dangerous gulf opening up in French and Hungarian politics between right and left on immigration?
Or do you fancy an Irish version of the vicious civil war between Democrats and Republicans, which has corrupted civility in American politics?
Away with that childish passion for a left-right division that looks good on paper, but ends up with blood on the streets.
Aristotle, if around, would agree that our system, with a strong Fianna Fail leaning to the centre left and a strong Fine Gael leaning centre right, is as close to perfection in politics as you will get in this flawed world.
But that system only works well if both parties are so strong, and so robustly led, that neither Fianna Fail nor Fine Gael are left too long in power.
Meantime, the differences between them in terms of personality and political culture should be as sharp as possible to compensate for the large measure of agreement about policies.
Here, it seems to me that Leo Varadkar is likely to put more blue (shirt) water between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail than Simon Coveney.
But if we face a future of minority governments, then Simon’s superb personal and coalition-building skills come into play.
Since Simon would be doing business with Micheal Martin, peace and harmony will be helped by their cosy, common Cork backgrounds.
But would that be good for Fine Gael morale, or even good for Irish politics?
Surely it would be better for both Fine Gael and Irish democracy to see the combative Leo lash into his opposite number ?
As the Fine Gael party ponders the answer to that question, they will also be measuring the rival merits and alleged defects of the two men.
Simon Coveney’s main strength is normally summed up in saying he has a safe pair of hands.
But the downside is that it implies that he’ll just hold the ball safely, being by temperament a defensive player; a full-back.
Leo Varadkar’s critics would say his big weakness is that he is more likely fumble a catch or a pass.
But the upside is that when he connects, he will try to score, being by temperament an offensive player; a striker.
Fine Gael has also to consider the public perception of the two candidates. At first sight, Simon Coveney is by far the safer bet, being what in Cork is called “a sound man”.
But Simon’s soundness can also come across as boring, which is not a plus with a young population, and especially not a plus given the endless scrutiny of television cameras searching for charisma.
Conversely, Leo could have too much charisma for some of the more conservative members of Fine Gael, a few of whom might find a gay man of mixed race a somewhat testing proposition.
In fact, a slight touch of the outsider appeals to something deep in the Irish political character.
De Valera, denounced as a “half Spaniard” and defamed as a “bastard” — shades of Trump’s birther campaign against Obama — was adored by a majority of Irish voters.
So is there any final test question which Fine Gael voters might ask themselves? How about this one: which candidate would Fianna Fail like to see leading Fine Gael?
Fine Gael can answer that for themselves. Either way, they are spoiled for choice.
Their happy dilemma is summed up by a couplet from John Gay’s Beggars Opera.
“How happy could I be with either
Were t’other dear charmer away” ******* This weekend, Martin Scorsese is in town to give a masterclass and receive the John Ford Award from President Michael D Higgins. Aine Moriarty, of the Irish Film and Television Academy, was kind enough to invite me, but I’m not sure I should upstage President Higgins, who will be presiding.
Marty and myself have met before. Back in 1998, he spoke to a small group of us in the UCD Film School and then called for questions.
I asked him why he handled killings on screen so differently from Oliver Stone, who dispatched his victims as if they were dolls, whereas a death in a Scorsese film, no matter how deserved, disturbed us.
Scorsese nodded agreement, and said his respect for human life came from his Roman Catholic rearing where every life is sacred. So I am not surprised that he has continued that spiritual journey in his recent harrowing film, The Silence, about the Jesuits’ mission to Japan.
For the record, my favourite Scorsese film is not one of his famous greats, but a modest documentary he made about his gay friend Fran Lebowitz, one of the great wits of New York.
Readers who are Lotto lovers should remember Fran’s advice: you have the same chance of winning the lottery if you don’t enter it. ******* James O’Sullivan, director of M&P’O Sullivan, Cork, who died last week at the early age of 58, could have claimed to be a Cork merchant prince, but preferred to act like a Cork merchant democrat, giving generously of both his money and his time to charity and good works.
He was a summer buddy of mine in Baltimore and loved his sailing summers in west Cork. James will be missed by his many friends. Condolences to his wife Cathy and to his family.
‘The first task of a Fine Gael leader is to win elections. The Taoiseach bit comes after that’