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You are > Home > Obama magic fails to show in Cowen’s bad ‘reshuffle’ trick
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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Obama magic fails to show in Cowen’s bad ‘reshuffle’ trick
By James Laffey
IT IS not a good time to be a young person in Ireland.
That thought struck me last week as I listened to the fall-out from the Government ‘reshuffle’ (I use the word advisedly) that sees a clearly incompetent minister – Mary Coughlan – remain in office and a clearly competent minister – Mary Hanafin – demoted.
Not only that but there is not a single young face at the Cabinet table with the two departing ministers – Willie O’Dea and Martin Cullen – replaced by men who are actually older than them.
We now have half a dozen ministers who have been in office for 13 years – a staggering length of time if one considers the periods served by previous ministers. No-one would have believed in 1997 that we would continue to have the likes of Mary Harney, Brian Cowen and Dermot Ahern in office for such a lengthy spell. It’s not good for Government and it hasn’t been good for the country.
Indeed, it could be argued that the worst thing that happened to this country was Fianna Fáil and the PDs returning to office in 2002. It was then that the problems really began.
The reshuffle was as bad as it gets. It was so lacking in imagination and inspiration that one wonders whether Brian Cowen cobbled the whole thing together in a matter of minutes.
Clare’s Tony Killeen replaced Limerick’s Willie O’Dea. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that geography was the dominant factor in that decision.
Pat Carey, the chief whip, replaced Martin Cullen – an unsurprising appointment given Carey’s support of Cowen in the past year. And that was about the height of the reshuffle, apart from the inexplicable demotion of the very competent Mary Hanafin and the retention of the patently incompetent Mary Coughlan.
As if all that wasn’t bad enough we have an utterly bizarre situation where the Greens, with six TDs, have now enjoyed five ministerial appointments during the lifetime of the Government. A party that once stood for ethical behaviour in public office now clings to power with a gritty resolve that even Fianna Fáil would admire.
Indeed one might conclude that in welcoming the Greens into Government, Fianna Fáil has created a monster that is determined to retain power at whatever cost. The Greens have now extracted more from Fianna Fáil than the PDs ever managed in their heyday – a situation that must leave Mary Harney somewhat bemused when she considers the Greens’ former reputation for being a soft touch.
Indeed, John Gormley and Co have shown that they are every bit as ruthless as their senior partners in Government, and there are several backbench TDs in Fianna Fáil who must be wondering if there is much point in continuing with the coalition arrangement for much longer.
Whether there is much to offer on the opposition benches remains to be seen but there is no doubt that the current Government is on its last legs.
It may see out its term but last week’s ‘reshuffle’ is proof positive that Brian Cowen is simply unable to make the sort of decisions that are required to inspire the country’s citizens, especially young people who are really feeling the sharp end of the recession.
If there was any Obama magic in the White House on St Patrick’s Day it certainly didn’t rub off on our leader. And that’s not maybe.
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