‘Eoin Ó Broin’s sack mandarin gaffe was not SF mask slipping’
SINN Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald yesterday denied that controversial calls from housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin for a senior civil servant to be sacked was a case of the party’s ‘mask slipping’.
In comments first reported by the Irish Mail on Sunday, Mr Ó Broin said the chief economist in the Department of Finance, John McCarthy, should be ‘sacked’.
The Dublin Mid-West TD described the senior civil servant as being ‘very orthodox’ and an ‘evangelical economist’ during a discussion about housing at the Night and Day Festival in September.
Speaking at the time, Mr Ó Broin said: ‘I think John [McCarthy] should be sacked... you have a guy who knows nothing about housing, nothing at all.’
However, Ms McDonald yesterday strongly criticised her frontbencher’s comments and insisted they ‘certainly do not represent’ her party’s position or true intentions if it gets into power.
Speaking ahead of the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis at the RDS in Dublin yesterday, Ms McDonald said the work of civil servants is an ‘essential component to governments getting it right’.
When asked by the MoS if Mr Ó Broin’s comments represented the mask slipping on what Sinn Féin frontbenchers are really thinking, but cannot say, Ms McDonald responded: ‘Look, I’ve spoken to Eoin. Eoin is well aware that his comments were out of order. They certainly do not represent the Sinn Féin position.
‘We are very well aware that people within the civil and public service have a job to do. It’s an essential job to inform government policy, public policy. They bring expertise.
They bring a critical eye. Our colleagues in the North as you will know, who have been in government, have worked very closely with that system.
‘It’s the same in this jurisdiction.’
Ms McDonald added that her housing spokesman ‘knows that he was wrong’ by making the comments.
After initially standing by the remarks, Mr Ó Broin last weekend rowed back on his comments, describing them as ‘ill-judged’ and ‘off the cuff’ following criticism from Government ministers.
He also wrote a letter of apology to Mr McCarthy.
‘[Eoin] has not backtracked as you put it, he has in fact apologised to the person in question,’ Ms McDonald said.
‘Very graciously, John has accepted that apology. But no, we believe firmly… we want to see excellence and expertise in the civil and public service. That’s an essential component to governments getting it right.’