AFOE readers interested in following the fallout from the resignation of Taoiseach (PM) Bertie Ahern and not familiar with the usual Irish sources may want to consult my post a couple of days ago for a little background (mostly in the Lisbon context) and then head to RTE, the Irish Times, and the Irish Election blog for continuous updates and commentary. Bertie will be taking questions in Dáil Éireann (lower house) this afternoon (1545 BST — during the soccer) and it will be carried live here.
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Feed: A Fistful of Euros
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
My reaction; excellent, that was getting ridiculous. He was either an idiot, or corrupt, or both to take the money back in the day. And none of those things are acceptable in the leader of a halfway serious country.
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
while this is good news for the integrity of irish politicians, and it does force me to acknowledge that it was a good thing bertie did (even if it came too late).
but when you consider irish history Dev, Haughey and Bertie, who are considered to be “best” Finna Fail (FF) Taoiseach’s,
all “Resigned” but only becuase they where all scandal ridden at the time. i’ll wait on the tribunal before condeming Bertie.
having said that i do consider him an expert politician, in particular his ability to conduct negotiations. his bad points are standard FF ones, hes got literally no core beliefs himself, he merely rides the populist wave with considerable skill and the fact that hes just a plamauser (irish slang for someone who will say or do anything to make the problem dissappear)
a though occured to me last night actually, would i be far wrong in comparing FF to the China communist party?
both populist, both straddle both sides of the political divide, both largely responsible for the running of their own countries (thought different political systems ofcourse). certainly i dont think FF have any real european counterparts.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Why are Irish terms always followed by a translation? It seems to me that one doesn’t translate things like “Duma”. There doesn’t seem to be a large number of people in the intersection of the sets of “cares about Irish politics” and “doesn’t know what the Dail” is.
I don’t want to pick on P. O’Neil in this respect. It’s quite common.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Oscar, I was sometimes struck by the comparison between FF and the PRI in Mexico — both in near-permanent power since their foundation, populist and ideology shifting with the times, and managing the paradox of being a “revolutionary” party that always seemed to be in government, helped by a impressive political machine. Of course there’s a comparison to the Communists today at least in the time where it helped to be a party member to get a favour from the government but FF have thrived in a democracy. We’ve managed to be a “halfway serious country” with a strange form of politics.
Hektor, the style point is a challenge. I suspect AFOE has quite a few readers for whom English is not the first language and so when I slip in the Irish terms it keeps things simpler to clarify the meaning for the unfamiliar. I’ll spare everyone the translation of Fianna Fail.