Confident and sometimes cocky, Fine Gael's point man on education Brian Hayes relishes his role as a thorn in the side of the Government, writes Mary Minihan
Brian Hayes, the former boy scout who grew up to be a Fine Gael front-bencher, is always prepared to tussle with the Minister for Education.
The ambitious Tallaght-based TD, who turned 40 last month, has apparently relished political debate from an early age when, as a member of the Fifth Port Dollymount Sea Scouts, he earned his proficiency badge in public speaking.
He cited a "logical" progression from scouting to politics in a good-humoured discussion on the Tubridy Showlast year.
“The scouting motto, of course, is ‘Be Prepared’. It’s essential in politics that people are prepared to know what’s coming down the track,” he told Tubridy. “And people knowing maps and how to get around constituencies, it’s pretty essential work . . . to be a politician and scouting, there’s quite a logical overlap.”
Political friends and foes inside Leinster House describe Hayes as an energetic and enthusiastic “eager beaver” type. Even opponents who argue that he lacks substance behind the zippy style admit that he’s a quick thinker who appears passionate about his portfolio. “He’s fond of the soundbite, but he’s a good performer on his feet in the Dáil,” concedes one insider.
One longtime observer from outside the Oireachtas credits Hayes with changing what the source describes as Fine Gael’s sometimes uneasy relationship with the teaching unions towards a more supportive stance. “He quickly mastered his brief and made it clear he wanted nothing to do with teacher-bashing.”
Within his own party, Hayes is recognised as pro-active and driven, with the potential to be tough despite the ready smile, although the conclusion of one colleague is that he is “a little bit cocky”.
He certainly keeps the party’s press office busy pumping out eye-catching statements, which some say are populist in tone.
Those who work closely with Hayes describe him as an approachable grafter who likes to be challenged, and say he wastes no time talking about his future ambitions. An indication of just how busy Hayes keeps himself is that he did not get around to treating staff to last year’s Christmas lunch until July.
One long-serving parliamentarian (not from Fine Gael) says: “I’d be very surprised if he was not in Cabinet after the next election.”
While Hayes may feel a political wind behind his back as the Government’s Budget cutbacks bite the education sector, there have been homemade foot-in-mouth moments.
Last year he rashly suggested that immigrant children should be segregated from other students in the classroom until they were able to speak English. The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) dismissed the idea as discriminatory, inequitable and deeply flawed.
On reflection, Hayes said he regretted using the word “segregation,” although he defended his call for separate classes for children with poor English-language skills.
It’s not hard to determine where Hayes stands on various educational debates, and he has taken a strong but measured stand on numerous contentious issues.
For example, instead of the return of college fees, he favours a graduate tax or levy as a means of funding third-level education, to be paid for 10 years after students graduate and start earning salaries.
Hayes warned that a grant cut would put many fee-paying Protestant schools outside the larger cities “to the wall”, and he moved to resolve the class size dispute by tabling a series of compromise measures.
He has denounced as “scandalous” the Government’s deal with the religious congregations to compensate victims of abuse in institutions, a deal that capped the latter’s payments at €128 million.
He clearly enjoyed his recent stint as campaign manager for George Lee in the Dublin South by-election, an association with success that will do his career no harm.
Hayes is married to Genevieve, who is said to be a shrewd observer of politics, and they have three children seven and under.
Hayes’s sister Caitlin also works in the Oireachtas, as a press and information officer for the Houses, and insiders often remark on the siblings’ contrasting appearance – in favour of the elegant Cait, it must be said.
However, the clean-cut Hayes is quite dapper by Leinster House standards, and would have been delighted when the tailor Louis Copeland named him as a well-dressed politician earlier this year.
He was apparently destined for an educational role from an early age. His mother worked in INTO headquarters and the general secretary at the time, Jackie Brosnan, often collected the young Hayes from Belgrove National School in Clontarf, Dublin. That was back when current general secretary, John Carr, was principal.
Hayes boarded in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, and attended St Joseph’s College, Garbally Park. He earned a degree at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he joined Fine Gael, before taking on the H.Dip.Ed course at TCD. A brief spell as a secondary school teacher followed.
Political activism was more attractive to Hayes, however, and he ran unsuccessfully in the Dublin South Central by-election. This was followed by a stint on South Dublin County Council. The then Taoiseach, John Bruton, nominated Hayes to the Seanad in 1995, where he remained until 1997, when he was elected to the Dáil for the Dublin South West constituency after topping the poll.
He spoke for Fine Gael on housing, house prices and urban renewal until a front-bench reshuffle in June 2000 saw him named as spokesman on Northern Ireland. In February 2001, he became spokesman on social and community affairs.
When Fine Gael suffered meltdown in the 2002 General Election, Hayes was one of the party’s nine Dublin-based casualties.
Nursing his wounds in the Seanad, he juggled the roles of Upper House Party leader and spokesman on Dublin, as well as speaking for the Fine Gael on defence and Northern Ireland issues.
He was reelected to the Dáil in May 2007 and has been Education spokesman since September of that year.
Hayes has his say
“You are the Marc Antony of the Government”
Referring to Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe’s friendship with Taoiseach Brian Cowen (November 2008)
“Either he is not in control of his brief or is subject to severe bouts of memory loss, just like Grandpa Simpson”
Likening the Education Minister to a cartoon character after O’Keeffe described as “recent” a 10-year-old report on classroom sizes (November 2008)
"It looks like Paul Gogarty just wants to keep the loot"Commenting on the Green TD remaining on as chairman of the Oireachtas education committee, despite resigning as the Party's education spokesman (March 2009)
"A farcical cock-up"Responding to the cancellation and rescheduling of the English Leaving Cert exam following a security breach (June 2009)
"It is still astonishing that an entire exam system can collapse because of the mistake of one individual, and it says more about the dysfunctional Department of Education than about the individual concerned" Reacting to the State Examinations Commissions report into the scandal (July 2009)
“The most important hardware that you have in any education system are your teachers”
Telling the MacGill Summer School that, while no Department could be immune from the McCarthy report recommendations, he will not support a reduction in teacher numbers (July 2009)
“Stalinist”
Describing the Department of Education (July 2009)
“Some publishers are treating hard-pressed parents as little more than cash cows”
Accusing certain book publishers of ripping off parents (August 2009)
