Echoes of Haughey mould as Cowen brooking no dissent

Tag: Mould Case

we’re back to Uno Duce, Una Voce! Biffo is in the mould of Haughey and, like the Squire, a leader who tolerates no dissent. No sooner had he clocked in as the new Taoiseach then he was warning the lads that if any of them (Minister, TD or Senator) voted against the Lisbon Treaty or expressed any doubts about it, he or she was facing expulsion from the cosy club and a metaphorical bullet in the back of the neck

‘Take it from me,’ he thundered, ‘all of the members of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party support this treaty and if there were to be anyone who had a conscientious problem, they would have to consider that outside the context of the party.’

So much for FF freedom of thought, debate and dissent, even loyal dissent! His menacing comment came in the wake of another bullying growl he made while The Bert’s cabinet seat was still warm. At the new cabinet’s first meeting he warned that matters discussed were to be kept confidential or there would be ‘serious consequences’ for anyone who leaked information. Serious consequences! Wow! It was enough to make the buckos tremble in their britches and chant ‘Yes, master. Yes, master’.

It was also grist to the mill for Labour’s Eamon Gilmore who suggested Fianna Fáil was in trouble with ‘factionalising’, as he put it, or ‘agendas’ that were being pushed against Biffo. (Gilmore, of course, knows what he’s talking about, having experienced in the old days much Soviet-style ‘factionalising’ and many secret agendas in the Workers Party/Democratic Left.)

Gemma Hussey, a former Fine Gael minister, was also horrified: ‘It gives me the heebie jeebies because it brings my mind back to the Haughey days and phones being tapped,’ she said, referring to the 1982 Fianna Fáil government bugging of journalists who had cabinet sources.

But, here’s a thought. Gilmore may have struck the nail on the head. Information is gradually emerging that instead of a seamless transition of power from Ahern to Cowen which we were all led to believe took place, there was in fact a putsch that utilised the talents of Michael Martin and Mary Coughlan as hatchet men. So successful – or terrifying – was it that not one politico challenged Cowen for leadership. Only in Moscow would you see the likes of it.

And because there were no contenders openly declaring themselves, hence may lie Biffo’s fear of secret agendas, ‘factionalisation’ mutterings in dark corners, and dirty leaks to the newspapers about rivals sharpening their knives, waiting their moment. Uneasy lies the crown on Cowen’s head.