IRELAND: RESIGNATION FURTHER WEAKENS GOVERNMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 000419 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR EI SUBJECT: IRELAND: RESIGNATION FURTHER WEAKENS GOVERNMENT REF: DUBLIN 416 Classified By: Political-Economic Chief Dwight Nystrom. Reasons 1.4(b/ d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Speaker of the Irish Parliament's sudden resignation on October 6 has highlighted voters' growing dissatisfaction with an often unaccountable political class and the perks it allows itself. Having clearly underscored malfeasance by the principal governing party Fianna Fail (FF) in calling for O'Donoghue's resignation, the opposition might be positioning itself to force early elections sometime between now and next spring. All of this comes just days before an already uncertain October 10 vote of the Greens (septel),the junior coalition partner, on whether to approve a new Program for Government. END SUMMARY. -------------- A SUDDEN RESIGNATION -------------- ¶2. (SBU) An unexpected confrontation in the Irish parliament (Dail) led on October 6 to the resignation of the Speaker of the Dail John O'Donoghue. O'Donoghue had been under increasing fire for several weeks after reports surfaced of his lavish foreign travel and other expenses he racked up as Minister for Art, Sport and Tourism from 2002-07. Observers believed O'Donoghue would weather that storm, but his situation quickly deteriorated after the disclosure, over the weekend of October 3-4, that his expenses as Speaker were similarly lavish. In a surprise statement during the October 6 session of the Dail, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore confronted O'Donoghue, who was presiding over the session, calling for his resignation. This was quickly followed by a similar statement by Enda Kenny, the leader of Fine Gael, the principal opposition party. Reportedly the Greens, the junior partner in the governing coalition, refused a request from Fianna Fail (FF),the principal governing party of which O'Donoghue is a member, to support slower, more discreet deliberations on O'Donoghue's fate. Late on the night of October 6, O'Donoghue announced his resignation, effective at an as yet unspecified time next week. -------------- SPEAKER RESIGNATION NOT THE ONLY DUST-UP -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The resignation comes on top of an ongoing dust-up surrounding a severance package of over one million euros for FF member Rody Molloy, the Director General of the National Training and Employment Authority (Fas). When he resigned in disgrace after an investigation revealed numerous financial irregularities, Mary Coughlan, Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, granted him the generous severance package. Coughlan and Prime Minister Brian Cowen claim such a package is justified and is standard practice, but media and opposition are attacking the Fas affair -- as well as the O'Donoghue scandal -- as typical of a systemically corrupt government irresponsibly wasting taxpayer money. -------------- COMMENT: EARLY ELECTIONS POSSIBLE -------------- ¶4. (C) O'Donoghue's resignation -- especially coupled with the Fas affair -- is a sign of the continuing vulnerability of an unpopular government, despite the recent landslide vote in favor of the EU Lisbon Treaty (reftel). It could add to the misgivings of many Green party members about remaining junior partners in the governing coalition, just days ahead of the October 10 Greens convention at which the new Program for Government will require two-thirds approval. With the leader of Labour, the third strongest party in the Dail, having precipitated O'Donoghue's fall, and Fine Gael having quickly driven the final nail in the coffin, a strengthened opposition might be positioning itself to force early elections sometime between now and next spring. By calling for O'Donoghue's resignation, Labour especially has captured the public mood (and outflanked its much stronger opposition colleague Fine Gael). END COMMENT. ROONEY