Day of drama as î Cu’v takes the long route to go nowhere

Date Published: 09-May-2012

IF Eamon Ó Cuív was a choreographer he would be snapped up by some of the top dance troupes in the world for the manner in which he staged managed his non-departure from the Fianna Fail party. But after all that, as Shakespeare would say, it was much ado about nothing.

Throughout Tuesday he had the media speculating on his political future. Some elements felt that he had no choice but to leave the party owing to his rather definitive stance on the forthcoming referendum; some were speculating that the ‘renegade’ TD would sit on the benches along with some of the other colourful independent TDs while there was a body of opinion which suggested that he was in the throes of forming his own political party.

In the end the expected drama turned out to be nothing more than Ó Cuív telling the nation that he was staying in the party and would be keeping his mouth shut when it came to the Fiscal Treaty. But it was beautifully timed to coincide with all of the tea-time news bulletins so that he could get the maximum amount of TV prime time out of this.

Of course he could have done this at 9am on Galway Bay fm but instead he opted for a day of speculation about his future and what he would announce. His critics have described his behaviour over the past six weeks as an elaborate publicity stunt aimed at copper-fastening his seat in Galway West the next time out.

There is no doubt that Ó Cuív has done wonders for the ‘no’ campaign and if in fact the treaty fails on referendum day, it will be something of a major coup for the North Connemara TD who will no doubt focus his attention on the bigger picture – and that could well involve a heave against party leader Micheal Martin.

The letter Ó Cuív received from the Fianna Fail Chief Whip Sean Ó Fearghail was merely a rap on the knuckles. He was basically told that there was nothing in the party rules which would allow a senior member to participate in campaigning against the party’s agreed policy. There were no threats made and it would be hard to find a line in it which suggested that Ó Cuív faced expulsion if he ‘didn’t play ball’.

But yet he managed to make appear like a ‘go or be pushed’ scenario when it was never his intention to quit the party founded by his grandfather but the publicity he got and the support received from within the party following his stance has fuelled speculation that it will only be a matter of time before he throws down the gauntlet to an already beleaguered Micheal Martin.

If Ó Cuív had been so principled about a ‘no’ vote then he would have definitely left the Fianna Fail sinking ship and campaigned vigorously against the referendum but instead he announced that he is going nowhere – and he never had any intention of going anywhere.

He said at the press briefing that there had been some speculation in recent times of him joining another political but what he failed to articulate was that he had actually encouraged that speculation over his blatant affront to his own party.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.