Galway Minister defends spend on recruiting comedy writer as adviser

Last summer, before becoming Minister for Disabilities, Anne Rabbitte, a Galway East TD, did an interview on RTÉ Radio One’s News at One that turned into a bit of a car crash.

During the course of the interview, the Galway East Fianna Fáil TD, with a reputation for ‘straight talking’, suggested university students were ‘better off’ on the Pandemic Unemployment Payments.

The backlash was instant. Social media erupted. Backbenchers were boiling. Her detractors had a field day. The Portumna politician knew she had messed-up live on air. And she decided that she had to address her issues with communicating.

Stefanie Preissner

The solution? She hired Stefanie Preissner, writer of RTÉ comedy drama Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope, to improve her messaging.

People Before Profit Galway representative, Adrian Curran, this week said it was ‘a bad joke’ that she paid €6,000 to Ms Preissner, as part of a PR package, which was revealed in the Daily Mail following an FOI.

“This government is a bad joke. Between Health Minister Stephen Donnelly forcing his officials, during a global pandemic, to go through and count every tweet that mentioned him, and Anne Rabbitte paying out this kind of money for PR, it is clear this government is more concerned with their image, than focusing on policies that might actually improve people’s lives,” said Mr Curran.

But speaking with the Connacht Tribune, Minister Rabbitte said she has no regrets about the spend.

“If I was a manager on the county team, I’d need a physio, a strength and condition coach and so on. You need to put a team around you so you can be the best you can possibly be. That’s what I did,” said Deputy Rabbitte.

“I’ve flowery language; I admit that. But do you know what, that doesn’t do you when you’re a minister. I was never a politician until recently. And I was never a minister before July.

“So there is a way of engaging without being offensive. I would always describe myself as having flowery language. Nothing wrong with that. I’m a plain talker, and I can communicate on a plain level without using high English,” she said.

“That’s fine. My constituents have no problem with that. But there was national outrage with my straight talking on a radio programme.

“I was very concerned and I didn’t want to find myself in that position again, because I felt I had let myself down and the people who had elected me,” she added.

Minister Rabbitte said all ministers in her position are given a secretarial allowance.

Ms Preissner was chosen, not because her partner is Noel Byrne, Minister Rabbitte’s special advisor – but because they are alike, she said.

“Not everyone would understand my way of thinking; I’ve a plain straight-talking way of thinking and speaking, I’ve a black sense of humour, and for me to find someone who is a little bit like me but who could phrase my messaging a little bit better and to help me out. Stephanie has all that.

“I recognised the strengths that Stephanie had to offer, I also understood my own weaknesses. I don’t want to change the person that I am. I’m still the plain speaking and straight talking communicator.

“That sometimes gets me in and out of trouble but I didn’t want to lose the core values of the person I am and I needed somebody who could assist me to get the best out of me and still not lose the person I am,” added Minister Rabbitte.