In an era of spin, McCreevy 'got on with job'

Charlie McCreevy's departure from the Department of Finance could mark a shift in public perception of the Government rather than any change in Government policy, Fianna Fáil TDs predict.

As party colleagues showered praise on Mr McCreevy yesterday, the only note of criticism concerned his apparent indifference to public opinion during his seven years in finance.

Former minister for education Noel Davern said Mr McCreevy had a "sharpness about his tongue that you could kill him for at times". As a result, he had been "unfairly characterised" and not given due credit for his success in transforming the economy.

Brian Cowen was "the obvious man" to replace him, Mr Davern added, predicting that this would mean "a different flavour" in the Department of Finance, rather than any fundamental shift in thinking.

Junior justice minister Willie O'Dea suggested a newcomer to the finance portfolio would get more credit than Mr McCreevy if, as expected, there is a loosening of the Government's purse-strings over the next two years.

Mr O'Dea said that, judged by the traditional criteria of Government spending, Mr McCreevy could be regarded as "the most left-wing finance minister in the history of the State".

But he accepted that this was not the public perception, especially after the "jolt" of recent cutbacks. A new minister might enjoy "more credibility" in the event of an increase in Exchequer spending based on renewed economic growth, Mr O'Dea said.

Dáil newcomer Mr Barry Andrews warned that Mr McCreevy's departure should not be a signal that financial restraint was being abandoned.

"We're never going to spend our way out of trouble. If we're going to recover what we lost in the recent elections, we have to do the work on the ground.

"Just priming the pump is not going to help."

But Mr Andrews insisted that, despite his image, Mr McCreevy had been a "socially-orientated, centrist minister" whose support for enterprise was part of a Fianna Fáil tradition and not the result of PD influence.

"There's a huge consistency in McCreevy's career. Right back to the early 1980s, he was arguing for lower taxes."

Cavan TD Mr Brendan Smith also rejected the "general commentary" that portrayed Mr McCreevy as a right-wing ideologue.

"The best way in this country or any other to reduce poverty levels and increase living standards is to create employment," he said. In this respect, Mr McCreevy would leave "a powerful record of achievement".

Mr Smith added that there was "no way" a new finance minister would facilitate a U-turn on the decentralisation scheme.

Mr Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central) said that "in an era obsessed with spin and presentation", Mr McCreevy "just got on with the job".

This might have cost him popularity, "but he'll be judged very positively on what he did".

Far from being influenced by the Progressive Democrats, Mr Kelleher added, Mr McCreevy had always had his own ideas: "The PDs were very close to his way of thinking, not the other way round."

Mr Kelleher said that if the economy continued to improve, a new Minister for Finance would be able to loosen the purse-strings: "But that was McCreevy's philosophy. You can spend it when you have it."