This article is from page 15 of the 2011-01-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
COORACLARE’S Brendan Daly had been in the Dáil for just four year when a young Bertie Ahern was first elected in 1977. For the next two decades their political careers became more and more entwined as first Daly and then Ahern were promoted to the Cabinet table where they became both friends and close political allies.
Thinking back to those early day, the former Clare TD remembers a quieter Bertie Ahern. A political mind with undoubted talents, who had a skill of helping people to get along and wished to keep his private life to himself.
“Even in the Cabinet he was very discreet. He kept his council very much to himself and was very considered and discreet. He was Minister for Labour at the time and he was very good and finding solutions to problems at that time. He came in in the ‘80s at a time when the Depart- ment of Labour was involved in solving disputes almost every day and he made a big contribution towards the establishment of industrial peace in Ireland,” remember Brendan.
“He was a very private individual. I wasn’t aware, for example, that he was having marriage difficulties even though his close friends did. I didn’t become aware of that until I went to his father’s funeral in Dublin. It was then that I met his wife whom I had known for a long time and I found out from her. It was only that day at his father’s funeral that I became aware that they had separated – that is how much he valued his privacy.
“In my time it was very rare to see him in the Dáil bar or socialising with the TDs in the Dáil. He preferred to be with his own loyal followers in the constituency when he had any free time and not so much socialising around the Dáil.”
When the historians finish with Bertie Ahern, Brendan believes they will have much more good things to say about him than bad.
“I think the one major contribution that he made was to the situation in Northern Ireland which was a very difficult situation. I think when people begin to write in more detail about him the one thing that will be mentioned is the settlement which has brought an end to the killing and bloodshed in Northern Ireland,” continues Brendan.
“I think it what was almost as important as the Northern Irish talks was coming to that tripartite agreement with the unions, employers and the government. We were on the brink of a major industrial dispute in 1991 and this arrangement worked out by Bertie brought about the industrial piece which has remained until now.”