Wallace’s poor man’s days at rich man’s banquet must be numbered

Editorial

Mick Wallace has shown himself to be unreliable in matters relating to personal finances. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

February 17 2023 02:30 AM

We are told life is the farce everyone has to perform. Even if that is the case, Mick Wallace’s days of hamming it up as the poor man’s friend at the rich man’s banquet in Brussels must be numbered.

The world’s greatest showman was PT Barnum. He made a substantial living by strictly following two beliefs. One was that “there’s a sucker born every minute”, while the other was his view that “you can fool most of the people most of the time”.

Like Barnum, Wallace relishes the spotlight, but his levels of braggadocio can be breathtaking.

To boast of having vineyards while maintaining his bona fides as a salt-of-the-earth working man catapults him to the most elevated galleries of self-delusion.

Thus far, the “right on” shtick has taken him from the Dáil and to the European Parliament.

In both, he has railed against the entitled and privileged. The fact he still seems to regard himself as a member of this elite may come as a shock to those who take him seriously as a champion of the underdog.

As an MEP, he is paid over €9,000 a month. Had he not boasted about owning three wine bars – stocked with the finest Italian wines, no less – we might not have known about his advisory role in the chain of bars, which saw him paid up to €499 a month.

As a member of the EU Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, he deals with legislation affecting the catering and hospitality industry.

It should come as no surprise that co-chair of the group, Manon Aubry, has said an omission of financial interests would be “unacceptable” and not “worthy of our political group”.

It is hard to imagine any committee would tolerate such behaviour.

Wallace’s sense of exceptionalism and of knowing better than the masses is, by now, well documented. He was among the group of 19 MEPs to vote against the resolution calling for a tribunal to prosecute Russia’s leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Following the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran – she was arrested for not properly covering her head – Wallace said the protest movement “would not be tolerated anywhere”.

It is also worth remembering that, a year after being declared bankrupt, the then-Independent TD was able to walk away from debts of more than €30m in 2017.

Despite all that, he still appears to struggle with basic concepts, such as declaring what you own. We know how a lack of accountability and enforcement powers can make a mockery of transparency and probity in public office.

Low standards in high office cannot be dismissed or adjudicated on a glib right or left basis. They are either right or wrong.

Surely it is time to bring the curtain down on the cast who see integrity as a laughing matter and taxes as for the little people? The joke, after all, is on us.