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Bertie and Blair: Presentation over principle  By
Joe Horgan
I’M not sure how much of a legacy it is, knowing anyway that any
discussion of Tony Blair’s time in power will always be overshadowed
by Iraq, but at least he was better than his Tory predecessors.
Though, like I say, being better than Thatcher or Major isn’t really
a glorious boast.
From what I can tell over here he swept in on an overwhelming tide of
hope but has not sailed out in anything like the same fashion.
Like Bertie Ahern though Tony Blair is always going to be able to point
to the North of Ireland as one hell of a political achievement.
In fact Ireland might yet be the thing that saves the reputation of this
particular British Prime Minister and it is not often that has
been said.
Blair’s departure was greeted here with a slightly sickly amount
of applause by all those Fianna Failers who should be the antithesis of
what Labour even New Labour is supposed to represent.
It was matched later by Alastair Campbell’s eulogy to Bertie Ahern
as one of the finest political leaders ever not in Ireland, not
even in Europe but in the world.
This was truly amazing stuff to those here in Ireland, the majority, who
have never voted for him and who would have deep question marks about
this man’s level of personal honesty.
But, like Blair, Bertie has the North of Ireland on his record and even
those of us who would find him one of the most disappointing political
leaders not just in Ireland, not just in Europe but in the world
cannot gainsay that.
Like Bertie Tony Blair epitomises the politics of our media-soaked age.
This is where politics is about presentation and soundbite rather than
policy or, God forbid, principle.
This is where politics is smudged with celebrity, where political leaders
don’t appear on political programmes but appear instead on soft-focus
lifestyle chat shows. This is where Tony’s ordinary man in the street
(and no he wasn’t) meets Bertie’s Dub in the pub (and no he
isn’t).
When this age comes to be assessed it is hard to say what of substance
Tony and Bertie will actually have left behind.
Of course it could be argued that most of this is harmless stuff and beyond
the veneer of frothy nothingness both of these men got on with managing
their countries and doing what they were paid to do.
So what if there is nothing of any depth there. No philosophy, no belief,
no guiding political principle.
This is the age of the managers and these two men managed. Bertie Ahern
has made Fianna Fáil one of the most impressive and successful
electoral organisations in Europe. They play to win. That is all that
counts.
As one of their Ministers smugly said recently: “We are a very pragmatic
party.”
Tony Blair has made Labour a party along the same lines. One of feel-good
emotions rather than clauses about private and public ownership. Not Trust
Me This Is What I Believe In but Trust Me I’m A Good Guy
A Guy Just Like You.
But then maybe it is not so harmless at all and maybe it often covers
up things that are actually quite sinister.
I remember writing in this paper two years ago about Tony Blair’s
public apology to the Guildford Four.
I remember writing how well this spoke of him and how that sort of unbidden
humility on behalf of the British establishment was so long overdue.
I also recall the words of Gerry Conlon speaking about his ongoing
pain and how he felt that Tony Blair had looked him in the eyes and was
indeed an honest guy. He said that Blair had promised to help him come
to terms with what had happened to him and that there would be proper
care offered to him in the light of the terrible thing that had happened
to him.
Like many others I thought this merited nothing but praise.
The only thing was that it turned out not to be true. Tony Blair did not
ensure that Gerry Conlon was given that help, that he was given the professional
assistance he deserved after being wrongfully imprisoned for a horrendous
15 years.
Once the cameras had turned away Gerry Conlon found that his calls to
the Prime Minister’s office did not lead anywhere.
None of that promised help materialised. Did Blair just forget or looking
into Gerry Conlon’s eyes? Did he find all that pain irrelevant?
Did he find that doing something for which there was unlikely to be much
media gain simply not worth it?
Tony and Bertie are cut from the same cloth. Maybe their lack of political
substance doesn’t really matter. Maybe their avoidance of principle
is irrelevant.
Maybe though away from the cameras and the smiles and the grinning chatshow
hosts there is across Britain and Ireland many people who, like Gerry
Conlon, feel nothing for these two but disregard. |
