The ghost of Bertie Ahern back to haunt poor Micheál

AS he faced into the 78th Ard Fheis it might have seemed to Micheál Martin that the more time and distance he puts between the party he leads and the old discredited regime, the more the ghosts of the past come back to haunt him. Not only has the Taoiseach-inwaiting to entertain Conor Lenihan’s intention to contest the European elections in Dublin, he also has to swat away the tenacious attempts of Bertie Ahern’s old crew to have their man rehabilitated. Bertie’s old cumann in Drumcondra has written to the party HQ pointing to their former boss’s long track record , stretching back to 1965 and leading Fianna Fáil to power on three successive occasions.

Bertie’s backers want to see him welcomed back into the fold like the prodigal son and garlanded with a distinguished service award.

Cunningly they point out in their begging letter that ‘Bertie Ahern and Micheál Martin served in cabinet together for ten years’. Ouch.

It’s tempting to see Bertie’s handprints on the overture but it’s also true that some of the old guard believe that he should never have been forced to resign from Fianna Fáil in his hour of need.

Still, risking the party’s electoral prospects to secure his legacy may be a stretch too far, even for the diehards.

That Bertie appears willing to take the gamble, to put his selfinterest ahead of the greater good , may be all the evidence Micheál Martin needs to convince the troops that the Ahern era should remain where it is, in the dustbin of Irish political history.