As the newly appointed Minister for Defence Tony Killeen arrived in Ennis last Friday, he was met by a dedicated group of friends, family and supporters. Dan Danaher spoke to the minister

THE irony of a large neon orange sign with the word “vacancies” erected outside the forecourt of the Two-Mile Inn Hotel wouldn’t have been lost on Tony Killeen as he returned to Clare for the first time as the new Minister for Defence on Friday evening.
Even though the 57-year-old Clare deputy insists he never canvassed for a seat at the Cabinet table, he must have wondered on a number of occasions over the last 18 years when the wait would end.
It took a major political faux pas from party colleague Willie O’Dea over a libel case involving Sinn Féin Limerick City Councillor Maurice Quinlivan to create a vacancy in the defence portfolio, which eventually gave the former Kilnaboy national school teacher the break he yearned.
As the motorists hooted loudly on the N18 travelling from Limerick to Ennis to greet Deputy Killeen’s arrival in Meelick, he must have thought about all his high points and disappointments during a political career that started off with election to Clare County Council in 1985.
Described by Councillor Pat McMahon as a “shy politician”, the minister has never courted publicity and his arrival in Meelick was a low-key affair.
There was handshakes all round as about 50 people including former council colleagues Joe O’Gorman, Flan Garvey, Bernard Hanrahan and current member Councillor Pat McMahon rushed over to the minister and his wife, Lily to offer their congratulations.
The cameras clicked as Mayor of Clare, Councillor Tony Mulcahy stretched over to welcome the minister’s return to Clare and to offer effusive praise for his work as a public representative over three decades.
It is not often that a staunch Fine Gael man welcomes a political arch rival back to the county but for once, political differences were left to one side.
In fact, Councillor Mulcahy admitted he was delighted to have the honour of performing the official welcome as mayor for a personal friend who thoroughly deserved his promotion.
“Tony will acquit himself well, he does his work in his own quiet way. I am sure he will sit down with the different mayors of the region under the auspices of the Mid-West Regional Authority to discuss issues to improve the region.
“Shannon Airport needs a strong voice at the Cabinet table and Tony has already facilitated meetings with Transport Minister Noel Dempsey with mayors in the region. It is vital to have a voice at the cabinet table,” he said.
Mary Heuson felt the minister’s return to the Banner county was very appropriate on Daffodil Day – the national annual fund raising day for the Irish Cancer Society – considering his successful recovery from bowel cancer.
“Tony’s recovery provides encouragement to cancer sufferers that cancer doesn’t always hold you back. Its is great that Brian Cowen has the confidence and trust that Tony will do a very good job, despite his recent illness,” she said.
Another Fine Gael Councillor, Sean McLoughlin welcomed the minister to Shannon and stressed he fully deserved his promotion following the work he had completed for the county.
An elderly man lit a bonfire to greet the minister’s arrival in Sixmilebridge and a large crowd was in attendance when he stopped off in Newmarket-on-Fergus and Clarecastle.
Mayor of Ennis, Councillor Frankie Neylon welcomed the minister to Ennis once he set foot in the West County Hotel.
“No one deserves a seat in Cabinet as much as Tony Killeen. I know the amount of work that Tony has done for this county and we wouldn’t have built Lees Road Amenity Park only for his role in bringing ministers like John O’Donoghue down to meet us,” he said.
Over 300 people treated Tony to a standing ovation once he was introduced to the crowd in the conference centre. One-by-one they all formed an orderly queue and made sure to shake  his hand and offer their congratulations and best wishes before they left the hotel later that evening.
It was clear from the function that all of the party faithful took great personal pride and satisfaction from seeing “one of their own” take a seat at the Cabinet table.
Minister Killeen admitted he was “chuffed” when Councillor Mulcahy took the time to meet him at the county boundary and was delighted with the civic welcome from Councillor McLoughlin and Neylon.
“I would be personally very friendly with them and I would fight like a dog with them politically. I have enormous respect for them having been in the council. I have a huge respect for county councillors, particularly the ones I fought with the most,” he said.

No-one safe from criticism says new minister

DEFENCE Minister Tony Killeen has blamed the reduction in junior ministers and unpopular cutbacks for the “unfair and inevitable” criticism of An Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Up to 15 Fianna Fáil backbenchers are reported to be extremely dissatisfied with Brian Cowen’s leadership following trenchant criticism by a number of deputies, including John McGuinness and MJ Nolan.
Minister Killeen pointed out the number of junior ministers was dramatically cut from 20 to 13, which resulted in six Fianna Fáil deputies losing their jobs and had created a lot of disappointment in the backbenches especially for people who would not normally be demoted.
The former Junior Minister for Forestry and Fisheries praised Brian Cowen for holding the majority of the party together during one of the most difficult economic periods any taoiseach had faced since 1987.
He said that dramatic changes in culture and society meant that even opposition leaders were not safe from criticism.
“Enda Kenny, who has done amazing work for the Fine Gael organisation, comes under criticism  every three or four weeks. With six junior ministers out of a job, all of the ministers have more to do and less time to deal with backbencher concerns.
“John McGuinness is saying pretty much what he was saying when Bertie Ahern was leader. He does have strong views on some issues. He’ll have to look at it against the background of a very different economic situation.
“Brian Cowen wants stable personalities in order to continue the difficult work that has to be done. None of what the Government is doing is popular and the solutions that fix the problem are not popular.
“Regardless what leader would be in charge, there would be huge pressure to do the right thing for the country and it would be impossible to escape criticism. Institutions and positions of authority that were free from criticism in the past are now open for criticism.
“I get the impression from talking to people that are dissatisfied with the Government, that they simultaneously believe what is being done is necessary or there isn’t a viable alternative. I don’t think any of the parties are connecting better than others.
“There was a period when Sinn Féin were connecting very well with young people and the Greens were connecting well with their own supporters.
“The late ’80s were difficult economic times but there was an eight-year lead into it from Charlie Haughey’s speech in 1979. The latest economic difficulty came very suddenly from an era in which there appeared to be no limits,” he said.
Asked about the apparent lack of a plan to create employment and Brian Cowen’s failure to set up a minister for economic development, Deputy Killeen said the experience of a single department for economic development was so negative in the ’70s and ’80s, people would be reluctant to return to an old model, which was also rejected by other countries.
He said that former Enterprise Minister Mary Coughlan hadn’t got the credit she deserved for the provision of measures to address the long-term unemployed, supports to keep people in employment and additional pre-employment training.
Asked about his reaction to his welcome-home celebration in the West County Hotel, Ennis, he admitted that he had a totally different view of what it was like to be a minister from what he had in Dublin on Tuesday when he was presented with a huge file of documents and was expected to stay up half the night reading them to be able to ask senior officials in the Department of Defence questions about four or five crises and long-term issues.
“The people who came here tonight have taken ownership as if it was themselves. I have got messages of support from people I had very little dealings with who clearly took pride in my appointment.
“If I stayed in Dublin for another fortnight, I might have a different impression. It may sound big-headed but it is very important for me that I never sought self-advancement within the party to the detriment of anyone or to the advantage of myself.
“There is no honour equal to getting enough votes to represent people in Dáil Éireann. Not even being minister beats that honour,” he added.

Killeen almost missed Dáil ticket in ’92

TONY Killeen’s bid to get elected to Dáil Éireann in 1992 could have been derailed only for the intervention of local Fianna Fáil councillors.
Seven years after securing a seat on Clare County Council, the Kilnaboy man ran at the Clare Fianna Fáil Election Convention but was beaten by outgoing Fianna Fáil deputies, Síle de Valera and Brendan Daly as well as Councillor Colm Wiley.
A small group of his supporters held a meeting, which was chaired by Councillor PJ Kelly and included Councillor Pat McMahon in the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis immediately after the convention where a strategy was devised to get him on the Dáil ticket.
One of the key ministers at the time Pádraig Flynn was contacted during the early hours to pass on a blunt message to Taoiseach Albert Reynolds from local Fianna Fáil councillors “take Tony Killeen as a Fianna Fáil candidate or else as an independent”.
Councillor Pat McMahon recalled that Fianna Fáil conventions all over the country including Clare were loaded with friends of certain candidates at the expense of newcomers.
“Tony Killeen was seen as a massive political threat, which he proved to be after securing election in the Dáil for the next 18 years,” he said.
A vox pop conducted by Clare FM the morning after the convention indicated huge support for Councillor Killeen, which illustrated the tide of public opinion that swung in his favour.
The top brass in party headquarters relented and Councillor Killeen was subsequently added to the ticket.
He repaid the councillors’ loyalty and faith in his political ability by topping the poll and was returned with Deputy Síle de Valera and Labour candidate Moosajee Bhamjee, who stunned political observers by becoming the first non-white and first South African to win a Dáil seat.
Interestingly, Deputy Killeen broke the mould where others candidates had failed by becoming the first Fianna Fáil councillor to win a Dáil seat.
Councillor Kelly noted that being a councillor seemed to be a necessary qualification for a future Fine Gael deputy but was a disqualification for a Fianna Fáil candidate prior to Councillor Killeen’s election.
Deputy Killeen turned to his friends in the council once again eight months later when he was the first local Fianna Fáil TD to resign the party whip over changes to the transatlantic stopover flights at Shannon Airport.
He was followed by Deputy de Valera who heard about his dramatic defection while she was over in San Francisco. All the local Fianna Fáil councillors rallied in behind Tony Killeen in a bid to get concessions for Shannon Airport.
A meeting was held in Roscrea between a representative of Clare Fianna Fáil councillors and Environment Minister Michael Smith, who acted as a mediator between the militant councillors and Transport Minister Brian Cowen.
A deal with a number of significant concessions for Shannon Airport were eventually secured paving the way for Deputy Killeen’s return to the party.
Councillor P J Kelly told The Clare Champion he had no doubt that Tony Killeen paid the ultimate price for supporting Shannon Airport in 1992 and this delayed his promotion as a junior and finally a minister.
“Tony Killeen is able, focused, committed and no-one’s prisoner. I see him as the Mid-West minister. His role as Defence Minister will give him time to promote a variety of issues in the region. He has access to all the key ministers. Once you are at Cabinet table, you are in a position to influence policy and a camaraderie develops with your Cabinet colleagues,” he said.
Another long-time political colleague and personal friend, Councillor Pat McMahon predicted he would make a “huge contribution” to the Cabinet.
“I believe Tony will bloom in Cabinet. He is very intelligent, is generally very shy and is too honest for politics. He would tell you straight up what he thinks and doesn’t engage in bulls**t or small talk.
“He is always a step ahead when it comes to breaking down a new policy. He is consistently underestimated by the media and his political colleagues. He doesn’t seek publicity and has built up friendships across the party political divide and in the media,” he said.
The minister’s constituency secretary, Councillor Pat Daly said there was great excitement within the local Fianna Fáil party with his elevation, which also represented a great day for Clare following the economic downturn in the wake of the Celtic Tiger.