McDowell goes wild on One

The McDowell tantrum and the devastating critique of actor Brendan Gleeson of conditions in A&E departments could do terrible damage to the Progressive Democrats and to McDowell's own electoral prospects. By Vincent Browne Even his apology was conceited, his reference to being “big enough” to acknowledge where he was wrong. And the apology failed to include the most hurtful (and, incidentally, self regarding) remark: “Deputy Bruton is knee-high to me in terms of anything that he's ever managed to do for this country”.
Having stood by what he said throughout that Monday (20 March), he felt constrained to apologise to Richard Bruton on the following morning (Tuesday 21 March) and later that day felt obliged to withdraw remarks he had made in the Dail the previous weeks about people connected with the Green Party being responsible for the attack on the offices of the Progressive Democrats some weeks previously.
The episode brought into public focus one of Michael McDowell's electoral liabilities: a rampant arrogance and self regard, which could cost his party seats in the next election including his own seat in the most unpredictable constituency in the country, Dublin South East (uniquely in the country, no party or candidate is sure to win a seat here in the next election and McDowell who lost his seat twice could lose it again). It also raised doubts about his ability to handle in a measured way an issue that is high in the electorate's perception of major issues: crime.
His attack on Richard Bruton allowed the latter to emerge as calm, coherent and informed, in contrast to his adversary.
That this episode followed a devastating tirade partly directed at his party leader, Mary Harney, by the actor Brendan Gleeson on the previous Friday night's Late Late Show (17 March) was unfortunate for the Progressive Democrats. Brendan Gleeson's remarks (see panel page 19) related to another issue central to electoral concerns, overcrowding in Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments throughout the country. Brendan Drumm, the head of the Health Services Executive (HSE) acknowledged at the weekend that the A&E crisis was very serious and that it would take years to resolve.
Shortly after being appointed Minister for Health and Children, on 19 October 2004, Mary Harney told the Dail: “The difficulties being experienced in Accident and Emergency facilities throughout the country are not acceptable to me, to the Government or to the average person who cannot understand how, at a time when we have trebled spending on health care to €10.5 billion, these things can happen….
“I intend to bring forward a package of measures to improve the experience of all patients who enter our hospitals via accident and emergency departments”.
And yet, in spite of the promise of a package to deal with the A&E crisis 17 months ago, it is now acknowledged that the problem is even worse and will remain so for years.
Michael McDowell has been embroiled in more controversies than any other minister in the course of his four year ministerial career (short of three months).
The following are some of the controversies he has engendered:

The citizenship referendum
He was the person who sponsored this in the first half of 2004 in the lead up to the European and Local elections. The basis for the referendum was always suspect for the Supreme Court had closed the “loophole” whereby asylum-seeking parents of Irish citizen children (ie children born in Ireland) could seek to remain in Ireland on the basis of their parenthood. The removal of citizenship rights to Irish born children was therefore of little consequence. Yet it enabled the PDs and Fianna Fáil to “resonate” with the apprehensions of the electorate on immigration issues (ie it enabled them to play the “race card”).

Asylum seekers
In an outburst which is now familiar, at a meeting of the Oireachtas Justice Committee on 18 May, he said in ambiguous reference either to asylum seekers or just bogus asylum seekers: “If Irish people saw the stories given by most of these people, how they came  to Ireland, how they thought they were in Canada… cock and bull stories abouit ritual sacrifices in the family”.
He went on: “I would prefer to have a system where I could have an interview (with asylum seekers) at the airport, find out the cock and bull stories they are going on (and out them) on the next flight”.

Frank Connolly
He became the first Minister for Justice ever to disclose the contents of a Garda file to a private person who also, incidentally, is a foreign national – this was the Garda file on Frank Connolly which he showed to the US philantrophist, Chuck Feeney. He went on to leak a document from that file to a sympathetic journalist.

Morris Tribunal report
He ignored the first and most devastating report of the Morris Tribunal for a year, which drew attention to a culture of concealment  and cover-up within An Garda Síochána, which it said could have disastrous consequences for the force. That report also revealed how Garda headquarters had knowledge of the illegal activities of gardaí in Donegal and yet did nothing about it for years. He made no effort to have removed from the force gardaí who were found by the Tribunal to have engaged in criminal acts.

The Brian Rossiter case
He ignored for a period of 18 months representations concerning the death of a 14 year old Clonmel boy, Brian Rossiter, who had been found in a coma in Garda custody.

Criminal Justice Bill
He has procrastinated for almost  two years now on the Bill, which was first introduced in the Oireachtas almost two years ago and to which he now wants to rush through more than 200 amendments, many of them with serious consequences for civil liberties.

Garda Ombudsman
He failed to resource the Garda Ombudsman Commission with the personnel and the finance to conduct the same kind of vigorous independent investigation that the police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland enjoys. He also failed to accord the independence to the Commission that applies in Northern Ireland – for instance there is no automatic requirement on the Commission to examine deaths in Garda custody.