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Editorial
AHERN STANDS DOWN
Bertie Ahern is to retire as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil on 6th May, when he will be succeeded in both positions by the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen. With Mr Ahern’s departure, the Republic is losing a Taoiseach who may not have initiated the recent phase of unrivalled economic prosperity, but who certainly managed the boom carefully, and Northern Ireland is losing a genuine friend. Mr Ahern was first elected to the Dáil in 1977 for the constituency of Dublin-Finglas and has represented Dublin Central since 1981; he became leader of Fianna Fáil in 1994 and Taoiseach in 1997, being re-elected in 2002 and again in 2007.
Yet, while the departing Taoiseach deserves praise for many real achievements, it became inevitable in recent months that he had to go because of controversy over his personal finances; his cabinet colleagues are understood to have been increasingly worried that he would be a liability in the runup to the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Indeed, according to a Red C poll published in the Sunday Business Post, Fianna Fáil support increased by five per cent following Mr Ahern’s announcement.
Despite all the positive aspects of Mr Ahern’s many years of leadership, his decision to resign was the right one for the country and for himself. By struggling further through each new day, he would have done neither any favours. Mr Ahern’s earlier statements to the Dáil, his now-discredited interview with RTÉ’s Brian Dobson, and the evidence to the Mahon Tribunal simply raised more and more questions. These are serious matters and, while Mr Ahern has stepped down, he still has many questions - too many questions - to answer.
Nonetheless, it would be wrong to view Mr Ahern’s service to the country solely in terms of these controversies. He always was an adroit political mover, an immensely likeable person and a politician who genuinely was in touch with the people. A threeterm premiership is no mean achievement. Mr Ahern was also a leader of vision when it came to Northern Ireland affairs in particular and his utter commitment to the peace process was clear for all to see. As far as Church matters are concerned, in their tributes to Mr Ahern, the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin have both rightly drawn attention to the way in which he initiated a new process by which the Churches and other faith communities in the Republic could engage with the Government; in this, he not only showed an appreciation of religious faith itself, but also, by his personal involvement, demonstrated a real personal commitment to the process.