Bobby Molloy: his legacy endures in Galway West

World of Politics with Harry McGee

Bobby Molloy left the national political stage 14 years ago. Yet his influence on the political worlds he walked away from did not wane, especially in Galway West.

One of the five seats there, now held by Noel Grealish, is a ‘Bobby’ seat. It was nominally a Progressive Democrats seat while that party existed. But the world and its wife knew that the only reason the PDs claimed that seat was because its incumbent in Galway West happened to be Robert Molloy.

Bobby passed away last weekend at the age of 80 after a long and courageous battle against serious illness. Born and bred in Galway City (he went to the Jes) his political domain extended across the constituency into the heart of Connemara, to the northern reaches of Lough Corrib and even into the Achréidh, the parts east of the city that still formed Galway West.

Molloy was a political colossus, straight-talking, down-to-earth, true to his roots. It is hard to imagine now how meteoric his rise was but most of his 37 year political career was spent at the top, or close to it.

He was first elected to the Dáil in 1965 at the age of 29 and three years later became Mayor of Galway at the age of 32.

On a national level, he made his own political preference known very early on. As far back as 1966 he plumped for George Colley over Charlie Haughey – and that suspicion of Haughey would remain throughout the remainder of his political year.

Years later he said he would have backed Lynch (the eventual winner) but he had signalled he had no interest. In terms of the conflict between Haughey and Colley he had a clear preference, which he relayed many years later.

“Colley was the ideal Fianna Fáil person. He believed in all the aims of the party, the peaceful reunification of the country and had a genuine commitment to the language. He had all the good qualities; he was in the Jack Lynch mould but more so.

“You didn’t ever doubt where he stood in regard to the basic principles of the party. But I suppose he wasn’t devious enough to survive in that milieu.”

Those comments told us a lot about Colley but also a lot about Molloy. He was a fluent Irish speaker, loved the language, and also cleaved to the traditional values of Fianna Fail which he felt the likes of Haughey had manipulated and betrayed.

When Haughey, Kevin Boland and Neil Blaney were sacked from Cabinet in 1970, Molloy was promoted and served as Minister for Local Government. He was just 34 and served in the position for three years. When Fianna Fáil returned to power in 1977 (in a landslide) he became Minister for Defence.

But despite the Lynch-Colley axis being in the ascendancy, there was no doubt that Haughey was beginning to muster his forces in preparation for a challenge.

Despite that, Colley was not prepared when Lynch suddenly stepped down in 1979. Molloy later told journalist Stephen Collins: “I didn’t know Jack Lynch was going to resign. In fact, it was Charlie Haughey who told me and asked for my support.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.