OPINION/Mark HennessyCharles J. Haughey took a special interest in choosing the furnishings of the Government's Gulfstream IV jet in the months before he happily strode the European Union stage during Ireland's 1990 EU presidency.
Unfortunately, Mr Haughey, who picked out a linen knit depicting islands off the southwest coast to line the cabin walls, did not survive long enough in power to enjoy the fruits of his labours. Since then, the Gulfstream has been the frequent source of bad publicity for top politicians.
Dick Spring endured grief during his time as Minister for Foreign Affairs over the jet's trips to Farranfore.
Inevitably, there was never going to be a good time to replace it, though it might have been more palatable to voters' tastes if it had happened when the Celtic Tiger was purring contentedly.
However, those days are no longer with us. Instead, the airwaves are filled with news of patients spending days on hospital trolleys, along with cutbacks in dialysis and cancer treatments. Given the mood, the Government's handling this week of the announcement that it intends to buy two new aircraft seemed to be designed to inflict as much damage as possible upon itself.
The Gulfstream's replacement will be bigger, it said. A clapped-out Beechcraft will be replaced by a snazzy seven/nine-seater executive jet, while the Gulfstream will stay in service well into 2004.
Clearly, the Government could tighten its belt and fly commercial like the rest of us. However, such an argument is nonsense, and particularly so with the EU presidency coming up in January. The question is not whether the Gulfstream should be replaced but, rather, what it should be replaced by, and whether other changes should be made to the travel rules enjoyed by politicians and officials.
Leased in 1991, the Gulfstream IV was bought outright in 2001, when perhaps it might have been better to send it back to the garage and lease a newer aircraft.
For the last couple of years, it has brought nothing but headaches: a breakdown in Washington meant that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, missed a New York meeting with the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan. Last month, he was made to look like an eejit in Mexico City when it would not take off after he had reviewed a military parade on his way home from a week-long trade mission.
The Gulfstream's fate was sealed, though, when it broke down again days later as he and officials readied to fly to Prague to meet the Czech President, Mr Vaclav Havel. Though the Gulfstream now has the reputation of being a "banger", it is not, even though it is no longer in its infancy. In fact, its service record seems to be just below the average achieved by its counterparts elsewhere.
The problem is that every breakdown is a public breakdown. And its passengers know that it is just back from the garage - yet again. Such information makes for nervous flyers. Though he may fly a lot, the Taoiseach appears to hate it. He despises helicopters with a passion and he has lost confidence in the Gulfstream. Ergo, the pressure to get rid of it.
Clearly, a 12-year-old aircraft has to be replaced sometime. The question is do we actually need a bigger one? Particularly something like the Boeing Business Jet, which is based on the company's popular 737. Although the prospect of having a BBJ - as the Boeing is called by those in the know - parked out in Baldonnel has some civil servants salivating with anticipation, the answer is we probably do not.
Indeed, one of the curious elements has been the Government's absolute insistence that it wants to take the plastic wrapping paper off a new aircraft. Second-hand or nearly new just will not do.
Given the global economy, fresh second-hand 737s, or the like, can be picked up for a song and kitted out for a few million - significantly less than the Government would have to pay for a BBJ, if it were to go down that road. Undoubtedly, the smaller four-seater Beechcraft Kingair, known to some of its unfortunate passengers as "The Flying Bucket", is ready for the knacker's yard, but again, it does not need to be replaced by an executive jet.
Businessman Tony Ryan paid €23 million for a Citation recently, so one must presume that the Government will have to pay something in the same ballpark as the canny millionaire.
Besides the issue of jets, however, the Government could look at the rules governing commercial air travel by its representatives - who rarely travel outside business class. Multinationals applied the brakes on travel months before September 11th happened, restricting employees' use of business class, using more economy tickets, or simply not going at all.
Many such employees now travel economy on long-haul flights if they do not have to work immediately on landing. The same rule does not seem to generally apply within Government circles. For instance, all those who could not be accommodated on the Gulfstream to Mexico last month travelled home on business class even though some flew back two days after the Taoiseach.
This is not a Banana Republic. People should have the tools and facilities to do their jobs properly. So please, Bertie, just spend the taxpayers' money like it was your own.