‘Do they take us for gobshites?’ – Wexford councillor says Ivan Yates and Fianna Fáil are part of exclusive ‘inner circle’
Last week it emerged that the former Fine Gael minister had not only provided media training to one-time presidential candidate Jim Gavin, he had also, in the past, assisted taoiseach Micheál Martin as well as five other Fianna Fáil ministers, James Browne, Darragh O’Brien, Norma Foley, James Lawless and Dara Calleary.
This has led to the national media regulator requesting details of Mr Yates on-air activities amid concerns he didn’t disclose details of his coaching work with Mr Gavin while working as a broadcaster.
However, Wexford councillor Leonard Kelly says Mr Yates’ work with Fianna Fáil speaks to a broader issue in Irish politics.
“It seems like it’s just a big game to the politicians, you can have a man like Yates, a former politician, failed bookie, who can have his fingers in so many pies and nobody thinks there’s any issue with that,” said the independent councillor. “How narrow-minded it is that the Fianna Fáil party felt he was the person to go to to advise them on how to present themselves publicly?”
“They didn’t feel there was anybody better than somebody who works with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), somebody who is actually a builder themselves, somebody who puts themselves out to be impartial by presenting themselves in the media. They felt it was appropriate to hire him, which they’re entitled to do, but that they still thought he was the go-to guy.
“They are all operating in such an echo chamber that they just don’t get that there’s actually a world outside of their bubble.”
That bubble, according to Cllr Kelly, extends to Mr Yates’ former party, a party which he says is now indistinguishable from its government partner.
“At a grassroots level there may be some differences but when it comes to those at the top and the policy makers they’ve (Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael) been happy to work with each other for years now. They’re happy to work within their own inner circles to achieve what they need to achieve. For me, it shows we have no chance of ever thinking outside of the box.
“There are probably solutions to the housing crisis for example, but if we keep dipping back into the same pool of insiders how were we ever going to come up with some creative solutions and start properly addressing the issues?”
With Mr Yates’ influence being exhibited throughout the Fianna Fáil party and possibly beyond, Cllr Kelly view is that the end result is a blandness, a sameness throughout the upper echelons of Irish politics.
“We see the media performers, we can see the ones who have been coached within an inch of their life, they have a certain way of holding their hands, they have a certain way of pointing their fingers, you can spot them,” he says. “But I think the general public are starting to cop on to the lack of authenticity of those who present themselves in that way.
“Compare that to someone like Catherine Connolly, whether you voted for her or didn’t vote for her, I think most people would agree she was authentic. Our politicians need to start moving towards that, to be as authentic as they can.
“But they seem to be getting addicted to these special advisors, to these media polishers, instead of saying ‘you know what, how about we just address the issues that are out there lads, and look outside of the circle’. I think most of us have copped on to the fact that they are literally all the same. Do they think they are taking us for gobshites?”
Asked if there are any TDs in the Dáil who come across as authentic, Cllr Kelly hesitates for a moment before plumping for two men who may not share his political values but could never be accused of being bland.
“People like the Healy Rays, they seem to be themselves. They present themselves as they are. Richard Boyd Barrett too. I’d imagine the way they converse in the Dáil and the way they address media would be pretty much the way that they would if you were to meet them in a town hall.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
