EDITORIAL

COUNTY Clare is, thankfully, once again represented at the Cabinet table in a Fianna Fáil-led government.
While there may have been hopes of securing a more high-profile portfolio among people in this area, Tony Killeen was quite happy to receive his Presidential seal of office as Minister for Defence in Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday. Overall, it was a fairly conservative reallignment with four ministers simply changing posts and Mr Killeen and Pat Carey promoted to replace Willie O’Dea and Martin Cullen.
The switching of Mary Coughlan from Enterprise, Trade and Employment to Education and Skills in a direct swap with Batt O’Keeffe has caused most debate. Given the problems they have encountered in their respective departments, one must question whether or not they can do any better in their new roles.
Meanwhile, political figures from all parties and people in general in Clare have greeted Mr Killeen’s promotion with approval and see it as an opportunity for the county to regain a vital edge in terms of political clout.
It is eight years since Clare last had a TD in cabinet. Síle de Valera served as Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands up to 2002 when, as part of a reshuffle, she was dropped to Minister of State level. During their long political careers, Brendan Daly and the late Sylvester Barrett also served as defence ministers.
In the past couple of general elections, the carrot of a cabinet seat has been held out by Fianna Fáil as reward for a third Dáil seat in the Clare constituency but the local organisation has failed to muster sufficient support. In now giving a full ministery to Clare, Brian Cowen may spark new momentum among party members.
A junior minister since 2004, Minister Killeen’s promotion brings him into the heart of the decision-making process and that is the most important thing. Clare has suffered badly in terms of unemployment and tourism decline in recent years and there hasn’t been anybody at Cabinet meetings to speak up for us with quite the same passion as a TD from the county.
While former Minister for Defence, Willie O’Dea has a small portion of Clare as part of his constituency, he is first and foremost a Limerick TD and that is where his loyalties lie. That is not to say that Mr O’Dea has failed to support anything that would be to the benefit of the Mid-West.
In addition to dealing with matters directly relating to his defence portfolio, Minister Killeen will be expected to ensure that the headline issues in County Clare, such as Shannon Airport, rising unemployment, tourism decline and health, remain high on his agenda.
What can he do to change the mindset of Dublin Airport Authority or Aer Lingus in their dealings with Shannon? Problably not very much but he will be able to press the Taoiseach and his fellow Cabinet members to support credible proposals from this region for the development of business initiatives at the airport. Minister Killeen has a strong bond with the airport, going back to his days as chairman of the Shannon Status Committee and, in fact, he resigned the party whip in 1993 in protest at the ending of the compulsory Shannon stopover.
Minister Killeen can expect to come under heavy fire in relation to local unemployment and the health service and will have to walk a tightrope on the question of the future of Ennis hospital.
He has served a long apprenticeship in preparing for his moment in the sun. Born in Corofin in 1952, he worked as a national school teacher before entering into politics. He has travelled the tried and trusted route to the Cabinet table via the local authority system. He was elected to Clare County Council in 1985 and served on that body until 1997, holding the chairmanship from 1989–1991.
First elected to Dáil Éireann in 1992, he has retained his seat in subsequent elections. In 2004, he was appointed as Minister of State with special responsibility for Labour Affairs. In June 2007, he was appointed as Minister of State with special responsibility for Environment and Energy. A year later, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with special responsibility for Fisheries and Forestry. A member of several Oireachtas committees, Mr Killeen has also garnered a wealth of experience in each of his ministerial portfolios and much of his work has been at EU level.
On a personal level, joining the Cabinet represents a triumph of the spirit for Mr Killeen, who has overcome serious illness in a way that has inspired others to battle against adversity. He has been strongly supported by his wife, Lily and their children throughout his political career and in his personal challenges.
Tony Killeen is to be congratulated and wished well in all his endeavours on behalf of the country and County Clare in particular.

Bishop recalls investigations

The fall-out from the non-reporting of clerical child sex abuse cases has reached the Catholic Diocese of Killaloe.
Bishop Willie Walsh has admitted that 20 years ago, he was involved in two canonical investigations in the Archdiocese of Dublin, one of them in respect of Fr William Carney, identified as a serial sex offender in the Murphy Report. He was speaking following the publication of Pope Benedict’s pastoral letter to the people of Ireland in which he told abuse victims of his “shame, remorse and sorrow for their suffering”.
In the case of William Carney, the then Fr Walsh was aware that the gardaí and the diocese were in contact before the canonical process began. As a result, he didn’t believe he had a role to play in contacting the gardaí. The bishop readily admits that if he were dealing with the case today, he would alert the authorities.
The second case was also examined by the Murphy Commission but is as yet unpublished for legal reasons, so the bishop is precluded from commenting on it. He was never involved in any such process in the Diocese of Killaloe.
Since his appointment as bishop in 1994, Bishop Walsh has a good track record in dealing with controversial and problematic issues in a fair and compassionate manner. All cases of alleged abuse that have come to his attention have been notified to the gardaí and HSE and he has cooperated fully in investigations.
For better or for worse, Bishop Walsh has laid out his stall in accordance with the Pope’s request to bishops to “establish the truth of what has happened in the past”.