Could it be time for Ireland to bring Bertie Ahern back?

Former Irish leader Bertie Ahern

If we do not learn from our mistakes and embrace those that have made them, we will always be prone to repeating the errors of the past.

With the housing market looking likely to blossom once again, the sense of excitement in the media is palpable. Indeed, many are using the Dublin-led property price rise as the barometer signalling an economy on the steady rise out of recession.

The question is, however, have we learned the hard lessons of the past or are we still gullible suckers who believe far too much in fairy tales and falsehoods?

Now, more than ever, we need the ability to look at our past, present and future with a clear head and 50/50 vision. However, while this would be the ultimate sign of a country that has finally reached adulthood, it seems as far away as ever when it comes to our national psyche.

In January 1988 the Economist used the headline “Poorest of the Rich” to describe Ireland’s place in Europe. Less than ten years later it was lauding us as “Europe’s shining light.” But it was under Bertie Ahern’s leadership that the country truly became a global brand for success.

Indeed, between 1997 and 2008 Ahern’s impressive list of achievements was not only the envy of any Taoiseach, but any world leader.

Economic growth was three-times the European average during this period as Ireland soared to the top of the EU Quality of Life league table. Unemployment was reduced to record low of 3.7pc, average life expectancy rose by 3.7 years, and our young workforce was heralded internationally as one of the best educated in the world.

History will also show the crucial role Ahern played in Northern Ireland, especially given the fact he was the first Taoiseach to win the trust of the unionist population.

Indeed, Bertie’s shrewd ability as a statesman saw Ireland excel on a European stage.

And now with our economy looking to finally bounce back, few leaders in the world have Bertie Ahern’s track record when it comes to economic and social success.

However, mention his name or list of achievements nowadays and you will be verbally hung, drawn and quartered by a mob that naively believes only a handful of politicians, bankers and developers were responsible for Ireland’s riches to rags implosion.

Of course, Ahern’s Fianna Fail, with the help of us all, inflated the Celtic tiger to such a degree that when it went pop there was no soft landing. That was a grave error, but one for which we all have to take a certain share of the blame. Just as our leaders became hypnotized by success, so too did we as consumers spend, spend, spend while further fueling our Government’s folly.

So rather than hysterically cheer lead the rise in property prices, or indeed blinding blame Bertie and Co for our downfall, the only way we can ever ensure we learn from the past is to embrace it.

And while that includes the bad and the ugly of Fianna Fail’s and Bertie’s reign, it also needs to include the good.

Indeed, many of Bertie’s skills and insider knowledge of the drastic errors he and his government made could just be what it takes to drag this country out of recession and back to sustainable levels of prosperity.

However, while in America they laud people who have learned the hard lessons of failure, in Ireland we shun them. And that is why, unfortunately, we never truly seem to learn from our past.

Paul Allen is Managing Director of Paul Allen and Associates PR, www.prireland.com

Pre-budget politics: lies, damned lies, and a gullible Irish public

Silly season arrives to Ireland ahead of this winter's budget

A fat tax, where homes are fitted with scales and the inhabitants weighed every month and taxed accordingly, is being considered for the forthcoming budget, according to newspaper reports.

The shocking scheme will see the Department of Health tell each citizen how much they should weigh and will make us pay for any excess ‘baggage’ we are carrying around. The idea is said to have sprung to mind while a government minister was boarding a Ryanair flight to visit our paymasters in Germany.

The Mandarins at the Department of Finance, meanwhile, are cooking up plans to tax families for each pet they own, according to whispers from the halls of Leinster House. The charge will be based on the number of legs each animal has. So, budgies will apparently be cheaper than dogs. The ISPCA and pet lovers around the country are rightly outraged. But at least the blessed goldfish will be exempt.

And so it goes, in silly season, as always, the spin keeps on spinning and the lies are left to linger for the media to dissect and the public to chew on.

Of course, the two taxes mentioned above are, at present at least, figments of my imagination. But then again, any suggestions surrounding the cutting of the old-age pension, reported widely in the media this week, are just as fictitious.

This time of year has become an annual ‘kite-flying’ event. The government of the day begins by leaking outrageous and savage cutback ideas as budget d-day looms. The public, in turn, is shocked and outraged. But as the big day draws closer more accurate and acceptable cuts are leaked, which, because of the shock and awe tactics used to soften up expectations, do not appear as drastic and are more readily, if begrudgingly, accepted.

It is a strategic, cynical and calculated political game that relies on media compliance as much as public gullibility.

And there is no better time of the year to launch this ambush campaign than the silly season that is August, where fodder to fill column inches and airtime is desperately scarce.

The recipe entails starting with complete fiction and then slowly simmering and reducing, until actual fact bubbles to the surface come budget day. By this time the public will be so scared and jaded it will accept almost anything.

In no other developed country would such a transparent and tired formula work repeatedly year after year. However, the government here seems to be able to pull this stunt time and time again, with little backlash. This enables them, in a time of austerity, to pass cruel budgets that illicit little more than a gnashing of teeth from a public that has been led by its nose to expect far, far worse.

So how can they keep on getting away with pulling this annual masterstroke?

Well, in the UK you have the Conservatives and Labour. In the US you have the Democrats and the Republicans. In Ireland, however, you do not have the same political gulf in terms of fundamental ideology between the mainstream political parties.

Indeed, anyone who thought Labour was going to be our knight in shinning armour, riding in to save us from swinging cuts, is no doubt sorely disappointed. And while Sinn Fein could be our knight in waiting, their time has not quite come as of yet.

So, in Ireland, more than anywhere, the role of the media is crucial in questioning the motives of government announcements and leaks. But at present it just seems to be a cheerleader, happy to wave its pom-poms from the side as it delivers the government’s well-planned PR strategy, designed to keep us all compliant.

It is said that people get the politicians they deserve. They also get the media they deserve. And our mainstream media has been letting us down.

The truth is we should be demanding more not only of our politicians, but of our press. Because, as the old saying goes — fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us.


Paul Allen is Managing Director of Paul Allen and Associates PR, www.prireland.com

Why Irish broadcaster Pat Kenny is worth every penny and more

Pat Kenny says goodbye to RTE to take on new role at Newstalk

The haters will hate, and the begrudgers will begrudge, but Pat Kenny’s million-euro move to Newstalk was a stroke of genius by the independent broadcaster, writes Paul Allen.

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” This no-nonsense philosophy underpinned Warren Buffett’s success throughout his career.

“Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks,” he said when quizzed about these words of wisdom, “I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.”

And when it comes to buying broadcasting gold at a bargain basement price, few offer the value Pat Kenny brings to the table.

Of course the whiners, will whine, complaining he was paid too much at RTE, never mind the fact Newstalk swooped in with what is believed to be a deal in excess of €1m.

But Newstalk will soon be laughing all the way to the bank.

He is the first superstar to make the leap from the RTE Mothership to a commercial radio station.

Sure, Ian Dempsey and Ray D’Arcy, both former RTE middleweights, made the move a long time ago, but neither had or has the pulling power of broadcasting heavyweight Pat Kenny.

The last listenership figures saw Dempsey’s Breakfast Show pull in 175,000 and D’Arcy’s mid morning talk show hit 243,000. However, both were blown out of the water by King Kenny’s 328,000.

This man, who hopefully will bring his own production team along with him, is not only going to revolutionize Newstalk, but commercial radio as we know it.

The show he is replacing, Tom Dunne’s middle of the road snoozefest, only manages a meager 55,000 listeners. Let’s face it, if you played the Angelus gong for that whole slot you’d pull in better figures.

The problem with much of Newstalk and other commercial radio stations is their schedules tend to be patchy. They have a mix of highly professional talent, interspersed with mediocrity.

In fairness, they sometimes strike gold and teach the national broadcaster how it should be done (the prime example being the revolutionary Off The Ball programme that fundamentally has changed sport radio in Ireland), but generally RTE rules the roost when it comes to the talent pool in Irish broadcasting.

However, this monopoly has now been blown wide open. And for good reason.

Just think of the hundreds of millions Ireland’s King of Broadcasting earned RTE over his 41 years. He will do likewise for Newstalk and that is why they are paying big bucks for him.

Advertisers and sponsors who would never have dreamed of investing their cash in Tom Dunne’s morning show, will now be beating down the door at Newstalk to get a piece of the action.

Of course public opinion will say he is getting too much money, but the fact is he is entitled to that money because of the multiples of that figure he will enable Newstalk to earn.

And while there are those that will foolishly believe RTE will be glad they no longer have to pay Pat Kenny’s salary, the dent in their advertising and sponsorship revenue is going to make them realise, and hopefully some members of the public, that they were paying him peanuts in the greater scheme of things.

Next on the Newstalk wish list could be Gay Byrne, to inject some much needed quality into the station’s weekend schedule. And you never know, Marian Finucane, could complete the coup.

The fact is, more will follow in Pat’s footsteps and the real winners will be the listeners and the independent radio market.

And after hearing on the grapevine rumors of a million euro advance that exchanged hands to smooth his transition, you’d better believe Pat Kenny is worth every single penny and then some.

Paul Allen is Managing Director of Paul Allen and Associates PR, www.prireland.com