Indiscipline in the ranks… May 5, 2010
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Irish Politics.trackback
… Dear oh dear oh dear… Has it come to this then?
Seriously, another sign that things are beginning to fracture for Fianna Fáil. Not that I expect the ship of state to capsize today or tomorrow, but it’s far from stable.
Most unimpressive aspect? The following.
Mr Cowen said it was up to the house to set a date [for the by-elections in Donegal South West, Dublin South and Waterford]. “It is a matter for the House to decide these matters. It is not a matter for Government,” the Taoiseach said. “If matters are moved, they will be voted on in that way.”
This fiction that Brian Cowen employs that somehow the by-elections are not within the gift of the Government but instead are dependent on the Dáil, is sadly risible. And the sense that this is a government that is hanging on by its fingertips, whether that is an accurate assessment or not, grows.
Remember folks, we’re now 24 months to the election and counting – one way or another. That should concentrate minds no small way.
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
Watching the report on this on the news, I had one of the moments where the sheer oddity of something you’ve taken for granted for ages suddenly announced itself: How did Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher get everyone to call him that? Was/is he thus on the ballot paper? do they refer to him as that in the European Parliament? ‘Et maintainant j’appelle Monsiuer Pat ‘le Cope’ Gallagher ……’? Was there another Pat Gallagher involved in Donegal politics that he needed to distinguish himself from? or maybe he feared he’d be confused with Paddy Gallagher the WP man from Waterford, back in the day….so many questions.
Not that I’m agin it: in fact, I’d make it compulsory for TDs of a certain seniority, rather like a democratic version of the titles knights of the realm take in the kingdom across the water. We could have Bertie ‘the Bung’ Ahern, Dermot ‘the Strop’ of the same ilk, Jim ‘Wrong Way’ MacDaid……
LikeLike
Yes indeed, remember Seán D. Christian Democrat Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus?
LikeLike
God yes, saw him at Tony Gregory’s funeral and it took me ages to remember who he was. never mind his myriad names.
LikeLike
I’m under the impression that Pat the Cope was so named due to the Co-op there which was connected with him/his family. Ah, Dublin Bay. Who’d have thunk he’d outlast Tony?
LikeLike
I think there is a Fine Gael councillor in the South West called Johnny ‘Porridge’ O’Connor. Not 100% if Porridge appears on the ballot paper though.
I’ve a leaflet from a chap up on the site called Pat ‘Abel’ O’Reilly who took a high court case against names being in alphabetical order on the Ballot paper.
When he lost he changed his name from Pat O’Reilly to Pat ‘Abel’ O’Reilly so he would be first on the ballot. (It didn’t do him much good as he polled 233 votes).
Oh …and for the main story were’nt these the lads who wanted to bring in ‘foolproof’ electronic voting for elections.
LikeLike
The do indeed refer to him as that in the Parliament. Or at least in the records of the debates.
The minutes for 20 April record the following
The verbatim report of proceedings has the following
LikeLike
How did Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher get everyone to call him that?
It’s a family thing – his grandfather was the main founder of the local Co-op.
That part of Donegal would be thick with Gallaghers, O’Donnells, etc. Most of us culchies would be familiar with the concept of an inherited nickname being used to distinguish members of one family with a common surname from others in the same townland/parish.
Was/is he thus on the ballot paper?
Yes
LikeLike
I think there is a Fine Gael councillor in the South West called Johnny ‘Porridge’ O’Connor.
That’s wonderful.
LikeLike
Some psephological trivia:
If the nickname is to appear on the ballot paper, the candidate must change his name by deed poll – and this is more common than you’d expect. One advantage of ‘Cope Gallagher’ over ‘Gallagher’ is that it moves your man to near the top of the ballot paper, which is regarded as electorally advantageous, especially in relation to transfers.
Here in Galway, I can think of two politicians who’ve gone the deed-poll route. There was the late Pol Bainin O Foighil, a Fianna Failer, an Independent, but most of the time a Fine Gaeler. O Foighil was from Tipperary, I think, but moved to Conamara, whereupon he instantly became more a Conamaraman than the Conamaramen themselves. In the early 80s, when Tony Gregory’s refusal to wear a tie to the Dail attracted some attention, O Foighil decided to assert his adopted ethnicity by wearing in the Seanad a bainin jacket (a homespun woollen garment, once worn in Conamara but now found only in tourist outlets). Getting some local notice for the gesture, he had his name officially changed, and leapt straight to the top of the ballot paper. He never leapt as far as the Dail, however.
Another political migrant to Conamara straightaway followed the O Foighil example. That was one O Cuiv, Eamonn, who changed his name by deed poll to Cuiv, Eamonn O.
LikeLike
to be fair to Oçuiv he probably changed it from a a cultural view point rather than a political gimmick.
For gimmicry he enjoys the appelation “young dev”
LikeLike
Who was that illiterate councillor Fine Gael had in Cork back in the ’80s?
LikeLike
That would be Bernie Murphy – Independent, not FG. The circumstances as I heard them were as follows.
There was guy in Cork, a barrister and bon viveur – we’ll call him Sir Paul McCartney. He identified as a socialist, and at election times, he’d shut up shop and help out in campaigns of Labour Party candidates that he regarded as being left-wing (I encountered him on MD Higgins’s campaigns). He had a high regard for his own strategic sense – in an Eoghan Harris kind of way – but apparently felt that his skills were not appreciated by those who benefited from them. Anyway, he was in a pub in Cork in the run-up to local elections in the late 80s, reflecting volubly on his abilities and insights in electoral affairs, when he said that, with his help, anyone could get elected. Looking out the window, and seeing local character Bernie Murphy passing by, he announced: ‘I could even get Bernie Murphy elected to Cork Corporation.’ Challenged to make good on this declaration, he asked all present to chip in a couple of pounds in the cause. In a day or two, he had over a hundred quid, and he went down to the bookies and laid a bet on Murphy at extremely good odds. Back in the pub, he handed out betting slips to those who’d contributed to his earlier appeal. He had 50 or more people whose £2 stake might become £50 if their man was elected. Naturally, they all voted for him, and persuaded their mammies and their grannies to do likewise.
In office, apparently, Councillor Murphy was no worse than the majority of his colleagues on the council.
LikeLike
And was immortalised in Theo Dorgan and Jimmy Crowley’s song ‘Here I am says Bernie Murphy’
LikeLike
Should you be interested Bernie Murphys Manifesto from the 1987 general election where he stood in Cork South Central and Cork North Central. The leaflet (which was for sale rather than distributed freely) aIso contains details of his 1985 City Council Manifesto.
http://irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/famous-cork-independent-cllr-bernie-murphy/
LikeLike