Not 3 months have passed since Damien Mulley asked when Irish politics were last interesting. It was underlined that while 1981-82 were exciting years (three electionsfoundation of the PDs, etc.), they were essentially such for their soap operatics. Not yet back in the absolute swing of things, it was only tonight that I happened on this, David Cochrane's moment-by-moment account covering the recent speculation of a PD walkout and with it, the potential collapse of the government. Soap operatics once more, admittedly, but this is bloody exciting, and I daresay quite interesting too.
To my mind have sprung a few short questions.
Tom Cosgrave highlights the difficult position in which McDowell and the PDs find themselves. If they don't demand Ahern's resignation, they will have broken from the conceived notion of the party itself: firstly that which broke from the corruption of a Haugheyite Fianna Fáil, secondly that which promised to keep watch of the current government. If they demand Ahern's resignation, and it is accepted, they will probably have to deal with a Fianna Fáil headed by persons less welcoming to the PDs. If they demand Ahern's resignation, only to be told know, they must walk themselves into the political wilderness. In which case, they need the opposition coalition to fail in the next election, in the vague hope of pairing with Fine Gael in the future (No?).
In any case, that the PDs find themselves in this theoretically near-impossible situation posits the key question: if the party must kill itself, as such, in order to retain its integrity, what are the PDs but another wing of Fianna Fáil? Granted, a slightly more definate wing. And if they don't demand Ahern's resignation, the Chicken Wing, perhaps?
And of the above scenarios, which grants the best outcome to the PDs? For me, the 2nd: Ahern resigns after PDs pressure, and is replaced by, say, Brian Cowen. They may not get on brilliantly, but on the surface anyway, the PDs remain in government and with their integrity intact. The first scenario - that nothing comes of nothing - would not be entirely bad either, at least as far as actually politicking goes. I don't doubt that a large proportion of the electorate feel for Ahern and will happily vote for him, perhaps even because of his teary theatrics (Ah sure, it's Bertie!). While on the level is intellectual consistency it might prove defeating, to have done nothing probably wouldn't hurt the PDs on much as the opposition's jibes at them would suggest.
To my mind have sprung a few short questions.
Tom Cosgrave highlights the difficult position in which McDowell and the PDs find themselves. If they don't demand Ahern's resignation, they will have broken from the conceived notion of the party itself: firstly that which broke from the corruption of a Haugheyite Fianna Fáil, secondly that which promised to keep watch of the current government. If they demand Ahern's resignation, and it is accepted, they will probably have to deal with a Fianna Fáil headed by persons less welcoming to the PDs. If they demand Ahern's resignation, only to be told know, they must walk themselves into the political wilderness. In which case, they need the opposition coalition to fail in the next election, in the vague hope of pairing with Fine Gael in the future (No?).
In any case, that the PDs find themselves in this theoretically near-impossible situation posits the key question: if the party must kill itself, as such, in order to retain its integrity, what are the PDs but another wing of Fianna Fáil? Granted, a slightly more definate wing. And if they don't demand Ahern's resignation, the Chicken Wing, perhaps?
And of the above scenarios, which grants the best outcome to the PDs? For me, the 2nd: Ahern resigns after PDs pressure, and is replaced by, say, Brian Cowen. They may not get on brilliantly, but on the surface anyway, the PDs remain in government and with their integrity intact. The first scenario - that nothing comes of nothing - would not be entirely bad either, at least as far as actually politicking goes. I don't doubt that a large proportion of the electorate feel for Ahern and will happily vote for him, perhaps even because of his teary theatrics (Ah sure, it's Bertie!). While on the level is intellectual consistency it might prove defeating, to have done nothing probably wouldn't hurt the PDs on much as the opposition's jibes at them would suggest.
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