Fionnan Sheahan: All change in the Dail, but real test still to come
NO dissenting voices were heard -- for once -- yesterday when Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore announced the Dail would be shutting down for three and a half weeks.
After a gruelling year, coalition and opposition TDs alike were more than happy to see the end of 2011.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny had threatened earlier in the week to bring them in next week if there were any complaints from the Opposition about enough time not being given to debate legislation.
He called their bluff.
Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett noted wryly he was afraid for a moment that Fianna Fail deputy leader Eamon O Cuiv wanted to extend the sitting period.
Not a chance.
Instead, Mr O Cuiv wanted to divulge some world-weary advice to the batch of new TDs.
"I am sure all the new deputies now fully realise something they might not have realised this time last year, that public representatives have a heavy workload," he said.
"The little break is more than well deserved and there is a lot of work to be done back home in the meantime."
Sitting in for Micheal Martin, Mr O Cuiv was speaking directly across the Chamber from where he sat a year ago in the dying days of the old Fianna Fail and Green Party government.
He was flanked by a half dozen of his party colleagues, who survived the electorate's cull.
Rightfully, he mentioned the sad passing this year of Brian Lenihan, which left a void in so many ways.
What stands out most about the new Dail is the volume of Fine Gael TDs.
On a quiet morning yesterday, where nothing contentious was being discussed, 25 Fine Gael backbenchers were scattered across the government benches.
The volume in numbers translates into a volume of sound when their Taoiseach comes under attack from the opposition benches.
Martin and Gerry Adams literally find themselves being shouted down.
The visual transformation of Fine Gael is more striking because the Labour backbenchers are still sitting in the same corner of the Dail they occupied while in opposition.
The arrangement is simply down to the arrangement of the seats rather than a suggestion that the party is having it both ways in government and opposition at the same time.
Nine months on and the coalition parties are already down four TDs, without batting an eyelid.
Only nine months into the Dail term is too early to make any judgment on newly elected TDs. But Fine Gael and the Labour Party have reason to believe the class of 2011 is a new generation which will go on to become the future leaders of the parties.
Certainly there's no lack of ambition among the young buck TDs, but the ones with cop on know patience is required and ministerial office doesn't arrive overnight.
Pinning down the seat at the next general election is the primary challenge for any new TD worth their salt.
Politics is a long-term game.
Ironically, the current idol of the Fine Gael backbenches is a man who lead the party to its worst ever result -- an outcome which inadvertently created vacancies in constituencies for the younger TDs.
Almost a decade after presiding over the meltdown, Michael Noonan delivered his first Budget as Minister for Finance.
The wheel always turns.
The decline of Fianna Fail also saw the arrival of increased number of Sinn Fein TDs and a rejuvenation of the independent benches.
Mr Adams's impact has been limited but Sinn Fein has finally elected a coterie of young, articulate and capable performers -- even if the party's economic policies are still simplistic and lacking in credibility.
The result is the pressure to pass the torch of leadership will grow.
The independent benches have provided many colourful moments, but some of its numbers supply a lot of heat with very little light.
The diversity of views certainly provides a challenge for the Ceann Comhairle, but Sean Barrett's firm, no-nonsense style is fair to all and demands respect for the institution of the parliament.
But the break will be welcomed by all sides of the Dail after a hectic year.
Compared to the disarray and uncertainty of a year ago, the political system is vastly changed.
When the Dail reconvened in January 2011, the then Taoiseach Brian Cowen faced questions over his relationship with former Anglo Irish Bank chief Sean FitzPatrick after revelations of an infamous game of golf.
The absolute beginning of the very end was Mr Cowen's botched reshuffle amid some bizarre scenes in Leinster House of cabinet members trying to explain the logic of a zombie government trying to replenish.
Mr Cowen's exit just a few days later was inevitable, dignified and soon forgotten.
Following the shambolic final days of the previous regime, the arrival of a stable administration with the election of Enda Kenny as Taoiseach on March 9 came as a relief.
The seminal moment of the year almost happened before anybody noticed when the Taoiseach made his celebrated Cloyne Report speech without any advance fanfare and proceeded to criticise the Vatican's attitude on child abuse.
Although the new Dail brought about a change in personnel, the relevance of much of the business that takes place there is still in question.
2011 was a year that started with a bang and ended with a whimper.
- Fionnan Sheahan
Irish Independent
