The Race for the Áras

by Tom Reddy

  One member described the meeting as ‘utter fing chaos,’ as the debate mirrored continuing resentment over the party leader’s favoured ten Seanad nominees. Ó Murchú, now a four-time Seanad vote-winner, had not been included on the list.

  The deputy leader, Éamon Ó Cuív, who had topped the poll in Galway West and was once tipped as a presidential candidate for the party, threatened to resign his position if Martin’s proposal that the party not nominate a candidate was voted on. There were calls of ‘Come back, Éamon, we love you’; and the meeting, described by another participant as a ‘bitchfest’, continued. Ó Cuív would subsequently deny speculation that he wanted to walk away from Fianna Fáil and set up a new party.

  Senator Mark Daly, a former assistant to Brian Crowley MEP, was also to hold out hope that Crowley could be re-considered as a candidate. ‘I would be hoping that if Brian Crowley is entering the race, support for him could be discussed.’

  A motion by Martin that the party would not contest the presidential election or endorse a candidate was not put to the meeting, whereupon Ó Cuív said he would have to vote against such a motion if it were put.

  Finally, Ó Murchú, who had threatened to press on with his candidacy, backed down and agreed to wait until a resumed meeting the following Tuesday, when the absent eight TDs and senators would be present. The party, riven with dissent, was in disarray over its policy and possible candidature for the Áras.

  On the RTE radio programme ‘Morning Ireland’ the following day Ó Murchú disputed the tone and the accuracy of that morning’s media coverage and asserted that Micheál Martin was ‘a charismatic leader.’

  The Fianna Fáil presidential pantomime was far from over. ‘Oh no, it’s not,’ said the headline over Miriam Lord’s Dáil Sketch in the Irish Times.

  Independent, Continuity Fianna Fáil, provisionally speaking. That should go down well with the voters.

  Micheál Martin—apparently hell-bent on bringing indecision to an art form—is showing leadership on their presidential strategy by sowing confusion. Fianna Fáil won’t be nominating a candidate, but it might support somebody else, then again, it might not, maybe. All options are open and the parliamentary party is taking off in all directions. The truth is Fianna Fáil has gone feral.

  At the weekend her colleague political editor Stephen Collins characterised the latest twist in the Fianna Fáil presidential debate as a sad reflection on the party’s discipline.

  The fact that the party leader was unable to crush a challenge to his authority from a senator is a sad reflection on how discipline has broken down in the party, which was renowned down the decades for its discipline and unity.

  The threat by deputy leader Éamon Ó Cuív to resign if Martin insisted on having his way has left the party in a real mess.

  He reported one TD as telling him: ‘The party has been hijacked by a bunch of elderly senators who got elected by spending their time in safe Fianna Fáil houses, while we faced the wrath of the electorate. They haven’t a clue about what is happening in the real world.’

  After the nine o’clock news the anticipated ‘Late Late Show’ interview with Norris took place—but it was a damp squib, as the news was already out. Norris was going to try to win a nomination, again. ‘This would be the biggest political comeback in Irish political history,’ Norris told his host, Ryan Tubridy, with his usual theatrical flamboyance, confirming the earlier revelation by McGrath. However, he declined to say who would support his nomination, saying, ‘This is a poker game.’ But he claimed to have received three thousand email messages in support of his return to the fray and hundreds of letters. ‘I’m not perfect, and I’m not pretending to be perfect. If you’re waiting for a perfect President you’ll be waiting for a long time.’

  Explaining why he had written the Nawi letter, Norris said he hoped he would never reject an appeal for help. If he helped strangers, how could he not help someone for whom he had feelings, even if he was flawed? he asked. Further pressed, he said he was ‘appalled, shocked and horrified’ after he heard about his ex-partner’s conviction. ‘I did not condone or excuse it. I abhor the abuse of children.’

  Norris was credited with giving ‘The Late Late Show’ an audience boost of 200,000, bringing the viewing figure up to an astonishing 744,000.

  Speculation continued to mount over who, if anyone, Sinn Féin would nominate. The Evening Herald’s front page on the previous day said that the party wanted Mickey Harte, whose name had featured in media speculation. ‘The party are on the verge of nominating a candidate with Harte thought to be the first choice,’ it wrote. A party spokesperson couldn’t confirm the story.

  Harte, the most successful manager of the Tyrone Gaelic football team, leading it to three all-Ireland titles, was reported to have been approached. His family had been struck by tragedy earlier in the year when his daughter was murdered on her honeymoon. He was now the third possible candidate speculated about who had a strong GAA background—often formerly seen as a prerequisite for a career as a TD, as it provided community standing and a ready network of potential canvassers and supporters.

  The following day Sinn Féin would put all the speculation to rest.

  Martin McGuinness would be the party’s nominee for the Presidency. McGuinness had just returned from the United States, where he was on a trade mission that included talks with movie moguls and the possibility of bringing Hollywood to Northern Ireland locations.

  McGuinness’s name had been floated originally by Mary Lou McDonald at a party Officer Board meeting. There had been discussion about running a TD—Adams or McDonald herself—but it was thought that they were too close to the general election and that a jump into the race for the Park would damage them politically. There was also the major consideration that significant numbers in the party felt they wouldn’t win and couldn’t win and that it would be a distraction instead of putting the effort into building on the successes of the general election. There was also the question of financing the campaign.

  In effect, the arguments were the same ones that Fianna Fáil was having, except that the latter needed to secure the republican vote and keep Sinn Féin at bay, and to use the campaign to rebuild and rebrand the party.

  While senior Sinn Féin sources would always say that Adams undertook to broach the possibility with McGuinness before the ard-fheis, the speed and efficiency shown in getting the posters, brochures and tour logistics into place showed some foresight, or an incredibly efficient machine. Commentators would argue that either was possible.

  McGuinness told Adams that he would consider the offer while in the United States, ‘out of respect for the work that he and I have done’. When he had made his decision he confidentially told Peter Robinson, First Minister of Northern Ireland, that he intended to step down, temporarily or permanently, from his post as Deputy First Minister while he campaigned for the Áras.

  McGuinness’s own progress from a Bogside rioter on the streets of Derry forty years earlier to IRA commander, then peace negotiator and Deputy First Minister, was as compelling a narrative as any that had been dreamed up in Hollywood. McGuinness said that those who had voted for him in the North would be pleased with his decision to run.

  They will be very happy that I, as an Irish republican from the North, will be prepared to stand for the Irish Presidency. The whole all-Ireland nature of the agreements that we have made make it incumbent upon all of US to continue to bring about—I hope—the reunification of Ireland by purely peaceful and democratic means.

  Gerry Adams said that McGuinness (61) would be ‘a people’s president’, capable of giving hope.

  He will dedicate himself to a genuine national reconciliation and the unity of our people. He will personify hope in the great genius and integrity of all the people of this island, Catholics, Protestants and Dissenters.

  McGuinness is a mass of apparent contradictions, the editorial of the Irish Independent noted. Having been at the heart of the IRA terrorist campaign f
or more than two decades, he became one of the strongest supporters of the peace process within the republican movement during the 1990s. Then, following the Belfast Agreement in 1998, he took to democratic politics like a duck to water.

  Will a majority of Irish voters be prepared to elect a former chief of staff of the Provisional IRA to a post which includes being commander-in-chief of the Defence Forces among its list of responsibilities?

  What is certain is that Mr McGuinness’s candidacy will turn what had already been a dirty campaign into an even dirtier one. Every aspect of his sometimes murky past will be dug up in search of damaging material.

  His opponents will surely leave no stone unturned as they seek to derail his bid to become the next tenant of Aras an Uachtarain. However, we suspect that Mr McGuinness, as a seasoned campaigner, will be well able to give at least as good as he gets.

  The good news, it also suggested, was that the ‘pugnacious’ Gay Mitchell would benefit from McGuinness’s entry to the contest, as he would use his candidacy to tap into deep ‘tribal’ loyalties.

  Liam Clarke wrote in the Irish Independent:

  Suddenly Sinn Fein no longer seems the edgy or dangerous choice it once did to southern voters.

  Fielding McGuinness is a master stroke. He is a polished performer, people like him and he has instant name recognition in the Republic. If he wins it will enable Sinn Fein to say that they hold high political office on both sides of the Border.

  Even if he doesn’t win he will, given the other candidates in the field and the absence of a Fianna Fail runner, be more or less guaranteed a creditable vote …

  Win or lose, it is a useful exercise without any obvious downside.

  The Northern editor of the Irish Times, Gerry Moriarty, with decades of tenure in the post, looked ahead to how the campaign would evolve.

  Martin McGuinness’s entry into the presidential race ensures the campaign will be as interesting and as exciting as it will be incendiary and dirty. But whether he gets elected president or not, as far as Sinn Féin is concerned it’s a win-win situation.

  Sinn Féin sources make two points here: one, that the party has plenty of capable personnel to replace him and—this said more quietly—while it is campaigning to win the seat, and believes it could shade the election, the emphasis is on how his running would benefit the party across the island, rather than on an actual expectation he will win …

  There will be questions over the IRA in his native Derry. He will be asked once again, as was alleged 18 years ago, whether he encouraged alleged IRA informer Frank Hegarty to return to his home in Derry in 1986, only to be murdered by the IRA? He will be asked about the circumstances of how in 1990 the IRA in Derry turned a civilian, Patsy Gillespie, into a human bomb, and how that bomb was detonated, killing Gillespie and five British soldiers—an action the retired bishop of Derry, Edward Daly, termed as Satanic.

  He will be asked many more questions, including, as was also alleged, whether he doubled as a British agent during the Troubles? McGuinness has dealt with all these matters before, but perhaps more so for a northern audience. With McGuinness running, southerners will be asked to look back on the Troubles in a manner most of them previously shied away from.

  Moriarty went on to quote a party insider as saying, ‘The big losers are Fianna Fáil. Once they left the field we had no choice in the matter.’

  A former key member of the Bertie Ahern political machine, his former partner Celia Larkin, wrote a regular column in the Sunday Independent commenting on politics and political machinations, drawing on her own unique experience. She accused Micheál Martin of being burned by his solo run regarding Gay Byrne and of waffling indecisively.

  Martin is more than a politician. He’s a political historian. He should have foreseen problems for the party in relation to outside nominations and had the matter closed off in advance. He should have his eye firmly on the next issues that are important for the party: strategy for the upcoming Dail session and the by-election. Focus. Clarity.

  As it is, Sinn Fein is whipping his ass, and looks likely to do so again having nominated Martin McGuinness for the presidency. Let’s face it; with a good political candidate, as Mr McGuinness is, it will hoover up disenchanted republican Fianna Fail voters …

  Martin needs to radically smarten up his act. There is no doubt he has an unenviable job, one few would covet. But great leaders surmount tough times.

  For Fianna Fail to have any hope of keeping its head above the political parapet, he needs to shape up or ship out.

  Another Sunday Independent/Millward Brown Lansdowne opinion poll showed that Fine Gael was in real trouble. In Government the party had an astounding 40 per cent poll rating—four points higher than its record-breaking general election vote—and dominated every social group and region. However, support for Gay Mitchell had fallen since the last opinion poll by four points, to 17 per cent. James MacCarthy-Morrogh on behalf of the pollsters explained that Mitchell’s image had deteriorated too, and his scores for ‘boring’, ‘conservative’ and ‘unknown’ were all rising.

  Since their previous poll, a fortnight earlier, while Higgins remained the clear front runner, at 32 per cent, support for Davis had risen significantly, by five points, to 18 per cent, only one point behind Norris. Support for Gallagher was also up, by three points, but he still trailed at 14 per cent. MacCarthy-Morrogh commented:

  The presence of three strong independents in the field as well as the cross-party appeal of Higgins, has blurred the lines of party loyalty in this campaign. Gay Mitchell is the chief victim of this trend. Backed by one in three fine Gael voters, his campaign loses party supporters in all directions. The Fine Gael party chose its candidate but Mitchell is not, at this point, the one the majority of Fine Gael supporters want in the Park.

  The only good news for Mitchell during the campaign came later in the week, when a Behaviour and Attitudes telephone survey of 308 members of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association gave him a preference of 25 per cent, six points higher than Gallagher, with Higgins polling 15 per cent and Davis 10 per cent. However, one in three said they still had to make up their minds.

  Martin McGuinness had hit the ground running. On Sunday the 18th he was at the all-Ireland football final in Croke Park. ‘I couldn’t get away from people after the match coming up to me and wishing me all the best,’ he said. The following day he pulled on his wellingtons and travelled to the biggest open-air festival in the country to canvass the 80th National Ploughing Championship in Athy. He had temporarily stepped down from his role as Deputy First Minister at midnight the previous day.

  Only Gallagher, suffering an ear infection, did not canvass the Croke Park crowds and that evening called a meeting of his team to wonder, at just ten per cent in the polls, whether or not he should continue in the race.

  At another meeting of Gallagher’s core group later in the campaign, concerns were raised about how information about Gallagher’s campaign was getting into the public domain, giving rise to fears they were being spied on. A private security company was contacted to check their concerns. However, a quote to ‘sweep’ the four-storey building for bugs was never followed through, as the €6,000 fee was deemed too expensive.

  A flavour of the questions McGuinness would have to consistently face during the campaign about his IRA past was put to him in Co. Kildare.

  I’ve never hidden my involvement in the IRA. Both the British army and the RUC murdered people in my city before the IRA fired a shot, and I was part of a young generation that decided to stand against them in the Bogside, in Free Derry, and we did stand against them, and I make no apologies for that.

  But I do think that when people examine my life and my role in Irish politics they need to examine it in the round. I’ve been to Iraq, I’ve been to Baghdad, I’ve been to Sri Lanka, I’ve been to the Basque Country. I wouldn’t be asked to go to these places if people didn’t think I was an absolutely genuine peacemaker who has a contributi
on to make to outlining our vision of how we go forward in Ireland.

  If people want to examine the past, then let’s examine the past of everybody [in the contest]. I’m not going to get into recriminating about the past.

  A few days later, interviewed on Ray D’Arcy’s Today FM show, McGuinness’s campaign blipped as he was unable to name the minister for the environment and the number of TDs in the Dáil—but he knew the all-Ireland hurling winners.

  The entry of Sinn Féin to the race with such a well-known yet unexpected candidate was devastating for Fianna Fáil and was one of Micheál Martin’s darkest hours as its new leader. It had lost the ‘republican-green’ vote, its role as principal opposition was now in question, and it now feared handing the centenary celebration of the Easter Rising to Sinn Féin. As dismissive media commentary piled up, Martin would spend the weekend on the phone talking to members of his parliamentary party before their meeting the following Tuesday, trying to bridge the rift in the party.

  That same day, Monday the 19th, RTE issued a statement saying it had pulled Dana from the eight-part entertainment series ‘Celebrity Bainisteoir’, where she managed and mentored the Co. Derry club Lissan. Even though she had not officially entered the race and was still saying she was ‘considering’ her position, RTE said that if she did run it would have to pull the complete series, as it would be running throughout the election campaign and into the results period. ‘In order to ensure RTE is unequivocally in a position to comply with our obligations for fairness and balance under broadcasting legislation, Dana has been asked to stand aside,’ the statement said. Her library of hits was also suspended from the RTE playlist.