Take me to your leader
If Martians were to arrive in Ireland – presuming they could get into the country without a work permit or an Irish earthling spouse, and also presuming that they aren't already here writing columns for The Irish Times – and were to ask the traditional question that space aliens presumably ask, ie "Take me to your leader…" I would be hard-pressed to know whether to point them in the direction of the Taoiseach's office or Michael Mc Dowell's.
If I was Bertie I would be on the lookout for hidden daggers and keeping a wary eye on "Brutus" Mc Dowell. The "so-called Minister for Justice" as Martin Mc Guinness referred to him this week, in what can only be described as a superhuman feat of tongue biting by the Sinn Féin chief negotiator, is grabbing all the headlines and stealing the show from Bertie.
Bertie and Michael remind me of a less glamorous, less witty version of my favourite Bette Davis movie, All About Eve. The one where a veteran celebrated actress is usurped by an aspiring newcomer who has insinuated herself into the life and entourage of the star.
The ingénue soon makes herself indispensable until her Machiavellian manipulations pay off and she finally outmanoeuvres the diva, taking her place centre stage and stealing her role. Contrary to popular opinion the best line ever from that movie is not the one most often quoted: "Hang on to your seatbelts it's gonna be a bumpy ride tonight!" Although it may well be a popular one in the Dáil bar after the Taoiseach's question time.
"Brutus" Mc Dowell is on a mission and it's gathering force. His attempts to push the Taoiseach into the shadows have become increasingly stagey. The Minister's grandstanding antics earlier this week were carefully aimed at forcing the Taoiseach's hand on Sinn Féin's continued inclusion in the Peace Process. His particular method of upstaging Bertie was calculated to let everyone know how much more he knows than his boss. Brutus is confident – get that – CONFIDENT about what he knows.
No surprise there says you, isn't he always confident, the man exudes so much confidence one might be forgiven for mistaking it for arrogance. His boss on the other hand tells us that being confident on the basis of intelligence briefings is not the same as personal knowledge. In other words he is not prepared to go as far as his Minister and he looked none too happy that his Minister had gone that far.
There are those who think that Michael Mc Dowell is merely throwing the snowballs that Bertie makes – playing hard cop to Bertie's soft cop. That may be, but he nevertheless exudes the distinct air of a Minister who is so enamoured of his own sense of infallibility that he has forgotten the rules of the game and believes he owns the board. Nothing and no one is too small or insignificant to escape the glower of the All-Knowing One.
Take for example the new kid on the block, the recently launched newspaper, Daily Ireland. They obviously did not pay enough homage to the "so-called Minister for Justice", and have drawn down his omnipotent wrath upon themselves. The paper is owned by the Andersonstown News Group (ANG) which produces a number of weekly newspapers in the North, particularly in Belfast. I have been reading the Andersonstown News since I was a teenager and its younger, sister paper, the North Belfast News is sent to me in Dublin religiously each week by my mother after she has finished reading her copy. She is especially proud of the issue that printed her letter about litter in the nearby park where she takes her grandchildren each day to feed the ducks.
The North Belfast and the Andersonstown News are that kind of paper – and the latter so much more. They make no secret of their strong nationalist bent. Over the last three decades the original publication, known affectionately as the "Andytown News", has given a voice to radical currents within Republicanism, actively encouraging its move towards electoral democracy as an exclusive means of furthering Republican aspirations. It has promoted issues like women's rights, gay rights, solidarity with the developing world, trade union campaigns, community organisations and community development.
Daily Ireland comes from that stable and is the Group's first attempt at a daily publication with a specific focus on the border counties. The Andersonstown News Group was presented the FÁS Excellence Through People accreditation by the leader of Mc Dowell's party and Tánaiste, Mary Harney. Their colleague in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, addressed the company's annual awards night. According to "Brutus" however, it is guilty of "fascism and illegality".
The NUJ is backing the paper. By inferring that the paper is a "Provo front", NUJ spokesman Seamus Dooley has made it clear that the Minister's accusations have had the effect of cavalierly placing the paper's journalists in danger. Mairtin O'Muilleoir, company director of ANG and Daily Ireland's editor, Robin Livingstone have instructed their legal team to proceed with libel action against Mc Dowell after his refusal to withdraw his comments.
Should anyone still be curious as to the best line in All About Eve, it is when Bette Davis as the central character gamely spits, "I have not yet reached the stage when I can be had for the price of a cocktail and a salted peanut". One wonders has Bertie.