Dáil smirks at Healy-Raes reeked of political and geographic snobbery
IF you still have difficulty understanding why the Healy-Rae political juggernaut keeps moving like an unstoppable force, take a peek at the Dáil debate last Tuesday and the coronation of Simon Harris as Taoiseach. When Danny Healy-Rae stepped forward on behalf of rural Independents to nominate his brother, Michael, as Taoiseach, the smirks and sighs of derision by some politicians at the top table were telling.
Admittedly, Danny was like the guy at an NBA basketball game who gets called out at the break to attempt a half-court shot to win money. It’s as tough an ask as you can get and seldom works out.
Yes, it was political theatre for sure as there wasn’t a hope in hell that Michael Healy-Rae was going to wear the crown. Had his nomination been successful, chances are he would have bolted for the front door and got the next train back to Kerry.
But Danny’s nomination of Michael was the only curve ball as far as I could see. The rest of what he had to say seemed a legitimate rebuke of a government that is patting itself on the back for having produced three Taoisigh in 16 months while presiding over some of the most catastrophic examples of governance in the history of the State.
That Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were once sworn enemies is now a convenient afterthought. How easily civil war animosity subsided, and the people who worshipped at the altars of Dev and Collins became lapsed party die-hards. It’s now like a non-alcohol option for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael supporters.
As Danny spoke to the packed Dáil, cameras skirted the building, capturing the faces of senior politicians barely able to compose themselves. Hands covered mouths to hold off the laughter as some made absolutely no attempt to hide the hilarity of it all.
They smirked from the back of the class as though they felt safe in the knowledge they are smarter and will get on much better in life than the poor guy struggling to compose himself with the teacher at his elbow.
To hold the view in life that no one is above you and no one is below you is a wiser path to follow than naked condescension.
Danny kept on pounding his belief that this diverse government is a failure. Thousands are homeless, thousands more are unable to purchase a house; healthcare hangs by a thread; and we have an immigration system that government finally admits needs tweaking. Nothing funny about that, as far as I can see.
He also called out the heir apparent – Sinn Féin – for failing to land a meaningful punch on the government’s chin as the main opposition party. He accused them of morphing into the very thing they are seeking to overthrow.
So what was so funny? Perhaps it was Danny’s delivery in an acute Kerry accent that titillated the gallery. His late father, Jackie, often faced a similar reaction when he rose to speak in the Dáil chamber. It’s as though their function is that of court jesters brought before the higher classes to entertain them. And herein lies the reason why the Healy-Rae clan continues to be an immovable political force.
How many times now have we witnessed Healy-Rae candidates – both local and national – blitzkrieg election after election by topping the poll? They often achieve this with a vote surplus that is the envy of other candidates.
It might sound like a cliché saying it, but they talk in layman’s terms, in a way that endears them to many. That includes speaking in a Kerry accent that feels like an endangered species in a world where the average accent is now somewhere between Netflix and an American sitcom.
Pick as many holes in the Healy-Rae caricature as you like, their electoral success is the reality. And in a political environment where politicians are accused of careerism, the Healy-Raes manage to keep it local in a way that wards off national criticism and uses it to their advantage.
They know full well that whenever Dublin hacks and intellectuals hear an angry Kerry accent at work, their antenna picks up on waves of inferiority. It’s as if serious matters of policy don’t fit a Kerry lingo; that it’s an accent better suited to talking football and telling stories at the height of the tourist season. Even the Fianna Fáil maestro Bertie Ahern faced the same bile from grammar snobs for speaking the tongue of where he was born and raised.
The smiles and smirks at Danny Healy-Rae in the Dáil on Tuesday are indicative of the wider attitude that allows them to keep orbiting the political earth. The sight of grinning Dáil deputies, many with Dublin 4 twangs, is precisely the kind of motivation the Healy-Rae voter base thrives on. It is grist to the mill for the Kilgarvan political cleavage.
The American comedian Jeffery Foxworthy once said that anytime people hear his deep Southern accent, they immediately deduct 100 IQ points. In the case of the Healy-Raes, you may as well add on another 100 votes.
EVEN BERTIE AHERN FACED THE SAME BILE FROM GRAMMAR SNOBS FOR SPEAKING THE TONGUE OF WHERE HE WAS BORN.