As the years go by, every relationship will have its ups and downs. It is more than five years now since Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael broke one of Irish politics’ last taboos and agreed to join together in coalition government. For some, it was an historic inevitability, for others a mere marriage of convenience.
The arrangement has proved more stable than many predicted, and is now well into its second iteration. But as any veteran of long-term relationships can attest, it is often the minor irritation rather than the major falling-out that can bring festering disagreements to the surface. As Albert Reynolds ruefully reflected following the implosion of his own coalition, it’s the little things that trip you up.
The revelation that broadcaster Ivan Yates had been providing media training to Fianna Fáil politicians including party leader Micheál Martin and presidential candidate Jim Gavin will have been galling for those in Fine Gael who were forced onto the defensive by Yates’s urging them to smear their presidential opponent, Catherine Connolly. Since Yates is a former Fine Gael minister, many would have assumed he was speaking from that perspective. He chose not to share his commercial relationship with Fianna Fáil with listeners or colleagues.
The presidential election was a fiasco for both parties. Despite efforts by their respective leaders to draw a line under those events, the reverberations continue to be felt. The Yates affair, while minor in comparison with the more important and daunting challenges facing the Government, touches raw nerves on both sides and crystallises the residual mistrust that inevitably still simmers beneath the surface. Ministers of State Colm Brophy and Niall Collins have since exchanged jibes on the matter across the airwaves.
RM Block
Such minor eruptions can easily be forgotten within a few days. But they can also come to be seen as symptoms of a broader malaise in a Government unsure of its direction. If this Coalition is to thrive rather than just survive, it will need to find a sense of forward momentum.
