Yet another Dempsey climbdown
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NOEL Dempsey is the master of the not-so-subtle U-turn, back pedalling and finding a fig leaf to cover over any embarrassment.
Last night he found himself in familiar territory, poised to add yet another climbdown to a list headlined by U-turns on the dual mandate, third-level fees, sanctions on provisional drivers and the tale of who knew what on the Aer Lingus Shannon-Heathrow fiasco.
Despite having several weeks' notice of the simmering anger among backbenchers over his drink-driving proposals, he stubbornly ploughed on with his master plan.
And he delayed confronting his party colleagues again until weeks out from what is expected to be the toughest Budget in the State's history.
Four weeks ago, at the party's think-in, a dozen backbenchers threatened to walk -- telling Mr Dempsey they could not support his plan to reduce the drink-driving limit from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
He was well warned.
But Mr Dempsey was not for turning, and his officials insisted he would pursue "life-saving measures".
In the intervening four weeks, backbenchers demanded a meeting with Mr Dempsey and scientific evidence for his proposals. They also called on him to postpone his ill-timed moves until after the Budget.
In the absence of any such meeting, the number of aggrieved and disgruntled backbenchers grew to over 20 -- prompting the signing of a motion, last week, calling on Mr Dempsey to abandon his plans.
The motion was withdrawn when the minister agreed to make a presentation at Tuesday night's meeting of the parliamentary party.
In the ever-crescendoed climax to that meeting, backbenchers threw their usual principled shapes and wheeled out populist soundbites.
Political observers, and probably the minister himself, assumed their barks would not translate into bites once they stepped into the same room as the Taoiseach -- and leader of Fianna Fáil -- on Tuesday night.
Mr Dempsey returned to his old form and irritated his firefighting TDs -- just as he did in 2003, when he pushed for the return of third-level fees, only to be forced to announce a U-turn.
Similarly, he vowed in October 2007 that learner drivers on their second provisional driving licences would have to be accompanied by fully licensed drivers in a matter of days or face penalties, only to announce a bedding-in period.
- ine Kerr Political Correspondent
Irish Independent
