| March 30, 2002
HERE�S a great table quiz question. You might like to try it
as a tie-breaker the next time you�re raising money for
charity. "Who is Parthal�n O� hEachtarn?"
I�m going to give you a clue. This mysterious gentleman�s coat
of arms, which hangs in the Mansion House in Dublin among
(presumably) other places, bears the motto "per ardua surgo".
Translated from the Latin, that means "I rise through
difficulties". It�s a motto shared by the 45th Squadron of the
Royal Air Force, oddly enough.
Lest you can bear the suspense no longer, let me tell you that
the bould Parthal�n is in fact our Taoiseach, Bertie O�
hEachtarn. I�ll tell you a little bit more about the family motto in
a minute, but here is a genuine mystery.
When you look up the family crest in all the genealogy books,
what is represented is a picture of three storks or herons
(herons - ahern, why not?). But, unless I�m mistaken (always a
possibility of course) the family crest of Bertie Ahern that is
hanging in the Mansion House features three swans.
The reason, by the way, that the family crest is hanging there is
because the Taoiseach was once Lord Mayor, and the crests of
all the Lord Mayors since old God�s times are there, in the Oak
Room.
But why the swans rather than the herons, I wonder? I thought
at first it might be in honour of the Three Swans Bar and Lounge
on the Drumcondra Road, but no such pub exists. Then I
thought that perhaps the Taoiseach was descended from the
children of Lir, but there were four of them, and anyway I could
find no trace. Perhaps it�s just a bad drawing.
But then I began to wonder. Maybe when they began to
research the history of the Ahern family for the crest in the
Mansion House, they might have found stuff Bertie doesn�t want
us to know about. Maybe that�s why he changed the crest from
herons to swans - to throw us off the scent.
So I�ve been digging around in the genealogy, to see if there�s
any scandal I can find to make even the tiniest crack in the
Taoiseach�s Teflon. There�s all sorts of interesting stuff. And it�s
all true - which is more than can be said for some of the
credentials that have been claimed for our Taoiseach.
You mightn�t believe it, but among those who fought and died at
the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 were the sons of Echtigern or U�
hEachthighearna as they are called in Irish. In the histories of
the time, their King, Brian Boru, had proven to be a far-sighted
administrator and courageous military leader, a "hero and
patriot". The first Echtigern (also the first Ahern) was among his
advisers, noted for his devious cunning, apparently.
In the 11th and early 12th centuries, Gilcrist Ua hEachthighern
was Abbot of Clonmacnois, a school for the sons of the Irish
nobility, and also of Ardagh in Co Limerick. It is believed that the
Ardagh Chalice was brought from Clonmacnois at the time of the
Viking raids around the time Gilcrist, who died in 1104, was
abbot. It�s not known to whom the chalice belonged - it seems
there was an older abbot, very fond of money - and Gilchrist
was minding the chalice for this older man.
There�s a lot more, but it gets very heavy going. It adds up to
the fact that clearly, our Taoiseach�s clan has a lot of
credentials for the job. I still haven�t figured out, given how
distinguished a family history it is, why he seemed to want a
different crest. The herons were good enough for the rest of
them.
But at least he never changed the family motto. "Per ardua
surgo" - I rise through difficulties.
Other people�s difficulties, of course. That�s what the Teflon is
for.
I rise through other people�s difficulties. That�s the sort of motto
that would suit the head of a government that is prepared to
break up a family for no other reason than the fact that the
father of that family is black. How is it possible for any
government in the civilised world to be able to stand over a
policy that leads to that? The lead party in this Government,
Fianna F�il, has always made a virtue of its commitment to the
family. But they are prepared to stand by and see a family torn
apart so that one of its members can be deported.
I rise through other people�s difficulties. That�s the sort of motto
that would suit the head of a government that rams through
legislation in the dying days of parliament to make trespassing a
criminal offence. The only and sole purpose of this legislation is
to be able to deploy the garda� against the travelling community.
It serves no other purpose whatever. How is it defensible in this
day and age? We all know that some travellers abuse other
people�s property. They�re by no means the only ones - but you
can bet they�re the only ones who are going to be treated like
criminals.
I rise through other people�s difficulties. That�s the sort of motto
that would suit the head of a government that tries to sneak
through legislation that pretends to be based on consultation
with disabled people, even though no such consultation has
taken place. Only a government that is content to ignore real
difficulty would preside over the mish-mash of hypocritical cant
and humbug that passes for a policy on disability. To listen to
the Minister for Education pretending that his Bill met any kind of
real need, and that nobody understood it except him, is to be
subjected to an exercise in almost suffocating contempt for our
intelligence.
And so this Government, not so much rising through other
people�s difficulties as completely ignoring them, is heading for
an election. We don�t know yet when it�s going to be, and the
next couple of weeks are going to be filled with empty
speculation and gossip about the date. It really doesn�t matter
any more, because now it�s only a matter of a couple of weeks
one way or the other.
And will Parthal�n and his Government rise through difficulties
when it�s all over?
The polls are saying that it looks like it. But in the last week
alone, in some of the actions and policies we have seen, the
ugliest possible side of this Government has been on show. They
have rammed through measures designed to pander to some of
the worst and basest instincts we have, while trying to con
people into believing they have some measure of social concern.
Maybe, just maybe, they have gone too far. And if they have,
they will be found out. The frantic activity in the D�il and
Senate this week has revealed a particularly unpleasant, and
unrepresentative, side to this Government. In small ways as well
as large, they really have lost touch with the decency of their
own community. The more people spot that, the less likely it will
be that Parthal�n gets to rise through difficulties. He may even
have to cope with some instead.
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