Bertie Resignation Shocks Americans

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Bertie Resignation Shocks Americans

April 3, 2008

by Niall O'Dowd

Bertie’s resignation came as major shock to most Irish Americans. After Ahern announced on Wednesday morning last that he was stepping down on May 6th my phone hardly stopped ringing with surprised callers.

There has been very little if any coverage of the Mahon Tribunal in the American newspapers. Indeed only the Irish American media has covered the storm clouds gathering over his evidence.

Thus, the news that Bertie was folding his tent because of the Mahon matter was a complete surprise to most.

“Ireland Shocked by Prime Minster’s Surprise Exit” ran the headline in the Houston Chronicle. The Associated Press reported that “It seemed an impossible end for a man dubbed the Teflon Taoiseach.”

But end it is . He will be missed. He was the “Howya” Taoiseach, friendly, down to earth with no airs and graces, all of which went down very well in America.

He had warm relationships with both President Clinton and Bush. Clinton especially liked him, feeling utterly at ease shooting the breeze with Bertie. Both were political junkies and enjoyed each other’s company immensely.

He proved his mettle on the peace process, helped drag it back from the brink more often than any other politician. Who can forget his brave gesture in returning to Belfast after his mother’s death and continuing the negotiations?

He was always affable, which made the comment in Jonathan Powell’s recent book about the peace process seem strange, Powell, Tony Blair’s chief aide, wrote how Bertie almost hit David Trimble after an insulting exchange with him during the Good Friday Agreement negotiations. Now that would have been a headline and a half!

He was a genius at making people feel at ease. I saw him last May with Ian Paisley at the Battle of the Boyne site, one of the most amazing moments of the peace process.

Bertie handled it brilliantly, treating Ian like a friendly old uncle, cracking his own jokes and laughing loudly at Ian’s. There are very few other Irish politicians you could imagine pulling it off.

But in the end he probably hung around too long. It’s always hard when you’re both popular and very good at politics to realize that a time comes when you should step away. It was good he did it at a time of his own choosing.

In the last year or so Bertie seemed to be on automatic a lot of the time. His fight with Irish Americans over helping the illegal Irish was a sign that he was preoccupied elsewhere and had lost his touch with a community that dearly liked him.

We’ll forgive him for that and remember the good times, when he delivered peace and prosperity to a land that long lacked both.

Perhaps, as a relatively young man he is not finished with politics yet, or maybe he has had enough and just wants to watch his beloved Dubs and Man Utd and leave the heavy lifting behind.

Whatever he chooses to do he has his place in history. Irish America will miss him.

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