'WARM-UP' SPEECH:FINE GAEL and Labour have "danced around our wounded economy" and failed to deliver "principled opposition" in the face of an economic crisis, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said as he introduced the Taoiseach to Fianna Fáil delegates.
Speaking just before Brian Cowen took the podium, Mr Dempsey also accused some developers and bankers of recklessly endangering the future of Ireland, and doing it as much harm as Oliver Cromwell.
The latter was, at least, “motivated by reasons other than personal gain”, said Mr Dempsey in one of the most outspoken “warm-up”speeches for a party leader’s presidential address in recent years.
The main Opposition parties had “not served Ireland well, a country that they claim to love and serve”, said Mr Dempsey.
“Brian Cowen has spent the last few months delivering in a dire situation. He has watched across the floor of the house the Opposition parties not delivering; not delivering principled opposition.
“Instead they have delivered cheap dramatics – not caring about the consequences of what they’re saying.
“Fine Gael and the Labour Party will some day regret the way that they danced around our wounded economy. They will some day regret the way they happily spread a dangerous message to the world about a country they claim to love and to serve. They have not served Ireland well.”
Describing the ardfheis as “one of the most important” in Fianna Fáil’s history, he said much of the public’s anger was directed at the party.
Ireland had been swamped by a global disaster that had been greatly complicated on the home front by economic treason.
However, he rejected accusations that Fianna Fáil had colluded with those developers and bankers who, he said, had committed “economic treason”.
“There’s no nicer way to describe what’s come out of one of the banks. It was economic treason. No more. No less.”
Those responsible were guilty of “reckless endangerment of a nation”.
“That’s not an exaggeration. That’s not over the top. The fact is that a small number of sophisticated money manipulators endangered the economic survival of our people.
“There’s no parallel in history for the damage they have done to this nation – except perhaps Cromwell. And even Cromwell was motivated by reasons other than personal gain.”
He said every major business and financial figure knew senior figures in Fianna Fáil and it was “inevitable” that this should be so given that the party had been in power for much of the last 25 years.
“But that does not amount to guilt-by-association. Knowing someone does not mean you share their vices or their practices.
“It doesn’t mean because you know a banker or a developer that you tolerate bad practice or rule-breaking. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had it up to about here with cheapshot assumptions about members of this party.”
He “categorically” refuted “unsupported rumours” that Fianna Fáil Ministers knew about, or would have approved of, “bank directors giving themselves huge loans or breaking any rules”.
“The smear that if we had known, we’d have approved it – is precisely that. A smear, and it isn’t the first smear that was ever put against FF. We didn’t. We couldn’t. And we would never, ever condone that kind of practice,” said Mr Dempsey, who was repeatedly cheered by delegates.
The Government must make difficult decisions. “We are making choices. Hobson’s choices. Choices between bad and worse. But if we are not brutally effective – quickly – in fixing our finances, others will do it for us. If that were to happen we could protest but nothing would change.
“If outsiders dictate our economic policies we won’t be worried about a pension levy. We’d be looking at pay cuts, or more even – at job losses and job cuts.”
