DEPARTING THE DÁIL:FIANNA FÁIL TD Dr Rory O'Hanlon (76) is retiring from politics with some strong advice to his colleagues on how to raise the public esteem of politicians and make the Dáil more efficient.
“I do not like personality politics and character assassination. There is too much of it.
“It does not serve the public well, and it certainly does not serve the image of politicians.”
To be elected to the Dáil, O’Hanlon believes, is a great honour and should be respected.
He would like to see three or so former Oireachtas members asked to draw up protocols on how TDs should engage with each other.
During his controversial period as minister for health in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when, like now, the exchequer cupboard was bare and savings had to be made, he was called “Dr Death” from the Opposition benches.
“Nobody likes to be called that, but it was not really upsetting. I separated my personal role from that of minister.
“In life, you have to think positively about everything. Trifling reverses and setbacks present an opportunity to learn.” In the Department of Health he operated on the basis that “if what I was doing was right, I could defend it, and, if it was wrong, I should not be at it”.
He was appointed minister in that department by Charlie Haughey in 1987, and health was in the frontline of the cuts being made to restore the economy to solvency.
Being a doctor, he says, provided him with the advantage of having a good idea of the implications of the tough decisions required.
“The important thing, at all times, was to protect the level and quality of care for people. I believe that was achieved within the constraints of the time.”
During the 1989 general election campaign, Haughey famously remarked that he was not personally aware of the full impact of the health cutbacks.
“I remember the day he said it. Personally, it did not worry me, because I was up to my neck trying to get re-elected to the Dáil while also doing my ministerial job.” Did he feel betrayed? “No. People said to me at the time they were not happy with it, but it did not really impact on me. He said it in the heat of the moment. Neither of us ever referred to it afterwards.”
A son of a doctor who had fought in the War of Independence, O’Hanlon graduated in 1959, settling in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, where he was attached to the local dispensary.
He joined the local Fianna Fáil cumann and was an unsuccessful candidate in a byelection in 1973. He entered the Dáil for the Cavan-Monaghan constituency in 1977 as part of Jack Lynch’s sweeping 20-seat majority.
He voted for George Colley in the leadership battle with Charlie Haughey in 1979, but Haughey went on to make him a junior minister in the Department of Health in 1982 and health spokesman in opposition from 1983 to 1987.
When Haughey returned to power, he had converted to fiscal rectitude and O’Hanlon was elevated to full cabinet rank with responsibility for health.
“My relationship with Charlie Haughey was businesslike. We did not socialise together, apart from a cabinet dinner twice a year when we all would be invited to Kinsealy for a drink in advance of the meal.
“My view has always been that when history comes to be written, the credit side of what he did as a minister and taoiseach will eclipse the downside.”
As minister, O’Hanlon remained loyal to Haughey to the end, and was, as expected, fired by Haughey’s successor, Albert Reynolds. “I was one of many ministers sacked. I said in Monaghan a few nights later I respected the leader’s right to hire and fire.
“My last line was that the sun never sets but it rises again.” The sun did rise again on his career. He was made party chairman by Reynolds’s successor Bertie Ahern and, later, Leas-Cheann Comhairle and Ceann Comhairle.
Given that he was above politics in those two positions in the Celtic Tiger years, he is free of any of the blame for the economy’s downward plunge.
He chooses his words carefully when asked if Fianna Fáil should show more contrition, given that it has been in power since 1997.
“Brian Cowen has expressed regret for our party’s level of responsibility. I would not expect Fianna Fáil to take responsibility for areas outside its control.
“Decisions were made which people genuinely thought were right at the time. There was huge recklessness on the part of the banks. It must be remembered, too, that many good things were achieved.” Retirement, he says, will allow him spend more times with his wife, Teresa, and 13 grandchildren.
The best known of his six children is comedian and actor Ardal O’Hanlon, of Father Ted fame, to whom he once gave career advice. “Like all fathers of my generation, I suggested he get a job to put bread on the table and do his comedy after tea.
“He had the good sense not to pass any heed on me.”