As Scrooge reaches out a cold finger Ð has the ÒpartyÓ gone out of Fianna F‡il?

It was the day that any number of politicians had anticipated for decades. Indeed, many a political career had come and gone with the dream still not realised – a motorway linking Galway with Dublin, and the possibility of a (legal) two-hour journey between the two cities.

On Friday, near Ballinasloe, the weather played its part. The scene was like a Christmas Card with frost on the fields as far as the eye could see. It was the perfect setting for Noel ‘Santa’ Dempsey to come and give the politicians of all parties something to celebrate – a €700million 56 kilometre stretch of motorway from Ballinasloe to Galway, completed on budget and ahead of schedule.

But Scrooge had laid a sub-zero finger on the proceedings ...... we had gathered to celebrate all right, but where was the traditional ‘nosh-up’ which has always been a major part of such occasions? There wasn’t a cup of coffee, a mince pie, a sandwich, a cocktail sausage ..... you have to ask yourself, has the ‘party’ gone out of the Fianna Fail party with all this talk of recession and cutbacks?

It’s either that, or no one had told the two Spanish companies involved in the Public Private Partnership, that there was a strong tradition in Ireland of holding a “piss-up” on such occasions.

I’ve been over 40 years going to official openings. Dammit, even the opening of a single-room extension to a national school in the bad old economic times of thirty years ago, would have meant a lash-up meal for the press and politicians, paid for by the contractors, and with the Reverend Mother acting as ‘barmaid’ for a number of hours.

Anyone who has never experienced a Reverend Mother pouring a small whiskey, hasn’t experienced true Irish hospitality.

Put it this way – if she was running a pub, it would be the most popular in the townland, though probably not the most profitable. There was even one Reverend Mother who was known to park a bottle of brandy in front of one veteran reporter, and a bottle of gin in front of another, saying to each ... “that’s yours.”

So, on Friday, we shuffled about on the motorway for about an hour in a temperature of minus 4. Eventually, ‘Santa’ Dempsey arrived. Not having waited half an hour, he was in a suit .... and, one presumes, thermal underwear.

Then, we listened to, I think, it was eight speeches .... but the mind begins to drift when it’s minus 4 degrees .... and you know the way politicians talk!

At this stage, even the Gardai had taken to marching resolutely up and down the hard shoulder to keep from freezing to death. Then came the shocker .... the minister unveiled the plaque, and everyone buggered off to wherever they were going!

Is it any wonder Fianna Fail are languishing in the polls? As I say .... the “party” is gone out of them.

Luckily, we were within hailing distance of Hayden’s Hotel in Ballinasloe – the scene of many a fine FF nosh-up in the days before the Scrooge atmosphere took over, or before they began to believe what Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan say. Dammit, weren’t they telling us last week the worst was over?

Thankfully, though Ballinasloe was still going through the throes of the clean-up after the floods of a few weeks ago, it was well and truly open for business. The Pogues and Kirsty McCall and Chris Rea, were playing in the streets, the shops brightly lit-up, and Hayden’s was playing host to the frozen broken-down dignitaries who made their way to the hostelry in the hope of fending off imminent frostbite. 

Already in the hostelry were people like FF’s Noel Treacy TD and Fine Gael Councillor Michael Mullins – both of whom will remember the days when you could go to a official opening and come away swollen four hours later.

In one corner huddled some poor scribes .... one of them confronting a cup of coffee and the free mince pie which went with it as part of a special pre-Christmas offer in Hayden’s.

For more read page 10 of this week's Connacht Tribune.