DEBATE:FRANKIE McBREARTY jnr was waiting in the family bar and lounge in Raphoe, Co Donegal, last night as people turned up for the Lisbon debate that he was chairing.
He conceded that it might seem odd that a family so damaged by the establishment was so totally at one with the establishment in urging a Yes vote in the second referendum.
“I have to agree with you on that point,” he said, “but anybody that knows me knows that I am anti-establishment. I can understand how people could vote No, but as far as I am concerned supporting the treaty is just common sense.”
Chatting to Mr McBrearty (40), you had a sense of a new man with a new life and a new sense of purpose. “I am no longer a victim,” he said, as he and the line-up he put together prepared for the debate. He also conceded they were all Yes people: Labour TD Joe Costello all the way from Dublin; Blair Horan, general secretary of the Civil, Public and Services Union; and local Labour representatives Susan O’Keeffe and Martin Farren.
“Don’t worry, you’ll hear plenty of No people as well,” he added. He said that in Raphoe, just like the rest of the country, there is a variety of opinion. In fact, entering the village you are struck by the number of Sinn Féin No posters on display.
Mr McBrearty said he, his father Frankie snr and his family are in reasonably good shape after overcoming the strain of being wrongly treated as murder suspects over the 1996 death of local man Ritchie Barron. He and his father’s vindication through the Morris tribunal by way of awards of €1.5 million for himself and €5.5 million for his father, plus damages, have smoothed the path to psychological recovery.
“I could knock my head off a brick wall for the rest of my life but what good is that for me, or my family, or the people of Donegal,” he asked. His inclusion of the people of Donegal is a reference to the fact that he is now a county councillor. He is in no mood to rest on his wealth and has big ambitions.
“My road is mapped out for me,” he said. He hopes it leads to a seat in the Dáil.
Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins, and Labour TDs Brendan Howlin and Joe Costello were supportive of the McBreartys from the early days, so why did he pick Labour over Fine Gael? “Fine Gael never asked me,” he said.
Mr McBrearty jnr is conscious of The Irish Times poll that foresees a Yes vote, but said there is still a job of work to be done.
“There are a lot of disgruntled people in Donegal and in Ireland at the minute,” he said.
Joe Costello agreed: “We are taking nothing for granted. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure that we get it over the line.”
Mr McBrearty jnr said the argument is simple. “Are we better in Europe supporting Lisbon or are we better out of Europe not supporting Lisbon?” His conviction is that Ireland is “better at the hub of it”.