Vincent Browne: Jet lag causes hallucinations I read somewhere. Therefore, on returning from America on Saturday morning I assumed I must be hallucinating when I thought I heard on RTÉ's Playback programme John O'Donoghue criticise Pat Rabbitte for ambiguity on defiance of a court order by Joe Higgins.
Not even John O'Donoghue could have the sheer brazen brass neck to criticise anybody over ambiguity on defiance of a court order. Not given his track record.
I checked back on the RTÉ web site and, to my astonishment, in an interview with Joe Little last week, John O'Donoghue had the bare-faced cheek to say the following: "All the main parties in the Dáil have upheld the rule of law and they have stated unequivocally that they support the institutions of the State on this issue and it is therefore incumbent on the leader of the Labour Party . . . to come off the fence, to stop dithering and unequivocally state whether or not he supports the stance taken by the socialist deputy, Joe Higgins . . .
"It is extremely important on an issue as fundamental as this, when we are speaking about our democratic institutions, which are an integral part of our democracy, that the leader of the oldest political party in this State, should state unequivocally that he supports the decisions of these institutions. It is not good enough to simply bury one's head in the sand and pretend that it is not happening."
On January 1st, 2000, the Department of Agriculture and Food imposed additional meat inspection fees on meat companies, to recover the full cost of meat inspections. The meat factories sought to pass on this additional cost to farmers. The IFA picketed meat factories in protest. The effect of the picketing was the closure of meat factories around the country and the lay-off of some 3,000 workers.
An order was made by Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan in the High Court requiring the picketing to stop. The IFA announced they would defy the court order and did so. The IFA leader, Mr Tom Parlon, said there would be "total resistance" from the farming community if any farmer was imprisoned for defying the court order. Hundreds of farmers took part in pickets at 30 meat plants, in defiance of that order. No arrests were made. Mr Parlon further announced that no meat product would be "allowed" to enter or leave the factories until the matter in dispute was settled. The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association came out in support of the IFA defiance of the High Court order.
On Friday, January 14th, 2000, Mr Justice O'Donovan imposed a fine of €127,000 (£100,000) a day on the IFA for defiance of his order and backdated this fine to two days previously, when the defiance commenced. The judge remarked how the IFA and its president, Mr Parlon, had "taken up arms" against the court. In response to this most blatant defiance of a court order, did John O'Donoghue, then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, charged with upholding the law and the legal institutions, dither, sit on the fence, bury his head in the sand and pretend it was not happening? You better believe it, that is precisely what he did. Not a cheep from him, not a whisper of condemnation. But worse than that. The Garda under his control stood by, one arm longer than the other, and watched this clear defiance of legal authority and did nothing.
What did the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern do? He advocated compromise. Not a syllable of condemnation or even rebuke for those defying the court order. What did the main Opposition party leader, John Bruton do? He urged the Taoiseach to intervene. Again not a word of condemnation or rebuke. What did the Minister for Agriculture and Food do? Absolutely nothing. Mr Justice O'Donovan remarked on his eloquent silence. Indeed, as far as I recall and can now check, not a single politician from any political party said a word in remonstration.
The protest was brought to an end after Mr Justice O'Donovan on Monday, January 17th, imposed a fine of €635,000 a day. The IFA capitulated, having incurred fines of €635,000 up to then.
So how is it so heinous for Joe Higgins and a few bin protesters to defy a court order, when defiance on a far vaster scale around the country by hundreds of farmers and the two main farm organisations, causing the closure of over 30 meat plans and the lay-off of thousands of workers, didn't merit even a whisper of rebuke? How much worse was it for a Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform to stand by and watch such defiance, say nothing and permit the Garda under his control to do nothing, than it is for the leader of the Labour Party to dither or fence sit - even if that is what he did?
And how is it that the person who led that defiance of a court order, the person who the court said had "taken up arms" against it and threatened "total resistance", Tom Parlon, is acceptable as a member of a government, apparently so exercised by the fundamental importance of respect for decisions of institutions of the State? Release Joe Higgins.