Book Review for Irish Independent

Title;    Fine Gael, Party at the Crossroads

Author;   Kevin Rafter

Publisher;   New Island

Kevin Rafter is a  journalist  who  has written  biographies  of Neil Blaney  and Martin Mansergh, and  histories of  Sinn Fein and  Clann na  Poblachta.  He has also written a  thesis on  the  Democratic Left.

His latest book is  a  history of  Fine  Gael  which  focuses  mainly on the  period  since Enda Kenny  became party  leader in  2002.

He claims  that , prior to Enda  Kenny’s leadership,  debates  within  Fine  Gael  were about whether  the party should be positioned  nearer to  the  Labour party or to  the Progressive  Democrats but  that  under him the party  has mirrored Fianna  Fail.  Kevin Rafter  says  that  Enda  Kenny understands  that  in modern politics ideology means nothing, and that   the  key success  factors are  perceptions of  competency  and of personality. 

He  argues  that  Enda Kenny  has  worked  exceptionally  hard  to  energise  the  grassroots of  Fine  Gael , build the  competency of the party  organisationally , and  offer a  listening  ear  to public concerns  rather  than lay  down  prescriptions based  on preconceived ideas. He points  to  his  success in recruiting  talented people  from  other  fields like  George Lee,  Mairead  McGuinness and Brody Sweeney.  This success has been accompanied by the necessary toughness in dealing with incumbents who may not have wanted extra competition or  who were interested in doing a lap of honour.

As is well known, all this activity has paid off handsomely. In  the recent  local  elections, Fine  Gael  got more  seats and  votes  than  Fianna Fail for the  first  time in Fine Gael’s history. Enda Kenny has also been able to keep the party united, a far from simple task.

While the book  portrays  Enda  Kenny as a  supreme pragmatist, it  also  draws attention to  courageous  stands he  has taken on  issues like getting rid of  compulsory Irish in the Leaving Certificate,  denying  access to  Shannon airport  to  belligerents in the  Iraq  war,  and  opposing in  2003  the  benchmarking awards to public servants which  have  subsequently  transpired to be  so unaffordable.

Enda Kenny was interviewed for this book.  Readers will find interesting  the   personal   details  that  emerge  of  his  close relationship  with his  wife, with   his  children, and  with  his late  father Henry Kenny TD,  whose  premature  death propelled  him into politics in  1975.  Representing Mayo in Dail Eireann  is a physically  demanding  task  for any TD because of the  size of the constituency and its distance  from the  capital . But it is all the  more taxing  for  someone  who  is a party leader and  who  has  spent  so much  time  travelling the entire  country and building  up a  personal  rapport with party activists in  every  part of  Ireland.  Enda Kenny has been   doing this for seven years now.  He has, as he himself puts it, served an exceptionally long apprenticeship for the  job of Taoiseach.

Kevin Rafter give due credit to others for their contributions to Enda Kenny’s success. Richard Bruton is seen as substantially enhancing the party’s image of economic  competency and  Frank Flannery  gets much  praise   for his work on the organisational and  candidate  selection  side.  There is one probably inadvertent omission. That is of  the vital role of the party’s   exceptionally energetic director of fundraising, Anne Strain.

This is a timely and clearly written book that gives a good insight into the characters that make up what is now the biggest party in the country.  Beyond the issues already mentioned like benchmarking, the book does not, however, offer much analysis of party priorities based on its statements, nor does it speculate about likely choices Fine Gael might make in Government in times when very hard choices indeed will have to be made.  That is the chapter of the book that the party itself will write.

Will Europe need 50 million immigrants? How should bank executives be paid?

 I was in Madrid this week for a very interesting conference of the Campus of Excellence.

The Campus brings together Nobel prize winners in various disciplines and people   who have been involved in politics to discuss the problems of the world with students from a number of Spanish universities.

I managed to attend three sessions, one on the world political situation, another on  immigration, and a third on  the world economy.

I spoke in the  session on  world politics along with Rosalia Arteaga, a former President of Ecuador,  and  Michel Rocard, a former Prime  Minister  of France.

Rosalia  Arteaga was President of her  country in 1997.

Michel Rocard  is a member of the European Parliament  since  1994, and was Prime Minister  from  1988 to 1991 under President Mitterand.  He  also held various other  ministerial offices including   being Minister for Agriculture in the  1980s.

Rosalia Artega was concerned about the trend towards anti democratic populist politics in some Latin American countries.

Michel Rocard was disappointed at the progress in negotiations with Iran on the nuclear  question. He favoured bringing Turkey into the EU.

In the session on  immigration, it was claimed  that  8 out of 10 immigrant movements in the world are  from one  country in  the  less developed  country in the world  to another  similar country.  Immigrants tended to be treated as objects or as part of a category   rather than as human beings.

Policies to only admit skilled immigrants meant that richer countries were creaming off  benefits from educational spending by  much poorer countries than themselves. It was claimed, for example, that   90% of  doctors educated in Ghana  emigrate to better paid  jobs in  Britain, thereby  subsidizing  the British economy at the expense of  the Ghana.

The European Commission had calculated that  the EU will need  50 million  immigrants  between now and  2060 if it  is maintain current levels of  economic  activity  in  face of the  ageing  of the native  European population.

In the session on  the  world economy, it  was pointed  out that family owned businesses had been more prudent in their  borrowing policies  that had public  companies where management  had been able to  gamble  with  shareholders  funds.

The system of rewarding executives with stock options was strongly   criticised by Nobel  Prize winning economist, Robert Aumann.   He said it encouraged them to be imprudent because they faced a situation where it was a case of

 Heads I win, tails I do not lose”

It would be much better, he said, to reward them  with actual shares, where they took  the  downside  risk, as  well as the upside possibility of  gain.

I think he is right.  The  focus in reforming pay in  the banking system should be not be on the amount people earn, but on how their earnings are calculated and on  whether the  incentives are for  prudence or for recklessness. 

Heading for storms in Copenhagen?

It is depressing to see people clutching at straws to deny the reality of climate  change.  This seems to be particularly prevalent in the United States, where there is one of the  biggest  rates of  CO2 emissions per head in the  world…… 20 tons of it per person per  year.

The last climate change treaty was negotiated in 1997.  The United States did not ratify it.

Since 1997, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by 6.5%.  As a result,   glaciers have been shrinking faster than before.  Since 2000, Greenland has lost 1.5 trillion tons of ice.

In the past 12 years temperatures have been 0.4 degrees warmer than in the previous 12  years.

My country, Ireland has been lashed by storms in recent   days.  I believe these  extreme  weather  events  are  related to our  dumping  of  all  this  CO2 and methane into  the  atmosphere day after day . After all, the atmosphere around the earth is quite thin, and the CO2 stays up  there. It does not disappear conveniently into outer space.

I hope we have a serious and binding agreement on  climate change  in the  UN conference in Copenhagen, not  a document  full of loopholes and let out clauses.