Politicians should never appear to be out of control, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent
Few images from the world of politics live long in the memory of the public, which usually has its attention directed elsewhere. However, there are exceptions.
In 2002, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, seized control of the election in the last week when he climbed a pole in Ranelagh to secure his "Single Party Government. No Thanks!" poster.
The action defined McDowell's brilliance - imaginative, radical, gutsy, ever prepared to take the other side by surprise. But there is another side to the Minister, a deeply unattractive one that he displayed in his emotional rant on Monday against Fine Gael TD Richard Bruton.
His decision to compare the gentlemanly Mr Bruton to Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels was not only highly offensive but also ludicrous, and would have resulted in his demanding the resignation of the man who uttered such a charge if he was now sitting on the Opposition benches.
It was also bad politics. Mr Bruton's allegation that Garda numbers had remained practically static over the past year would have amounted to a 24-hour story - regardless of the accuracy of the maths used - if he had left it alone.
However, Mr McDowell has a Shakespearean weakness.
Unlike Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who cares little whether people think he has won or lost so long as he knows he has won, Mr McDowell must not only win, but be seen to have won - and to be regarded by all as the cleverest boy in the class for having done so.
It is but the second time in little more than a week when McDowell has gone beyond the bounds of acceptability, following his charge that Green Party TD John Gormley's "type of people" had been responsible for attacking the Progressive Democrats' headquarters during last month's Dublin riot. Yesterday the Minister withdrew his charge against Mr Gormley, apologised to Mr Bruton live on RTÉ's Morning Ireland and followed this up with a handshake in the Dáil chamber.
The acts may have been gracious in the case of Mr Bruton, but graciousness is not enough, particularly from a man who is one of the most thin-skinned in Leinster House when criticism heads his way.
For years, Mr McDowell has traded on his considerable intellect, one that can be used to argue every side of every argument with ease, and one that is too rarely challenged inside the PD ranks for his own good, and for the good of the party.
Mr McDowell's intellectual skill, like the best circus tricks too often put on display, is wearing thin, particularly when he never admits to being anything other than the sole possessor of the truth.
Repeatedly, the Minister will point to the legislation that he has put through the Oireachtas as if it is a mark of some form of political virility. However, the Opposition have more than a point when they complain about the often-chaotic handling of those same Bills - which can change almost in their entirety because of amendments.
Yesterday he produced 340 pages of amendments to the 2004 Criminal Justice Bill, which was less than 40 pages long when first published. Since then, anti-social behaviour orders have been added to it, so too have mandatory sentences for gun possession, and many other changes.
Though Fianna Fáil TDs are not his biggest fans, most have learned to keep their own counsel about him over the last few years, while a few of them have developed a grudging respect for him following his strong attacks on the Sinn Féin leadership and the IRA.
However, he sorely tested their patience with a speech last month in Waterford when he told party supporters that it did not matter who the PDs go into government with after the next election. Known already as the "meat in the sandwich" speech, the argument that the PDs would be the core of any future coalition has been made better, and more politely, by others in the party ranks, most particularly Tánaiste Mary Harney. The fall-out from this speech has yet to be seen publicly but it has caused a significant, and not to be underestimated, degree of resentment among Fianna Fáil backbenchers.
Too often McDowell behaves as if he does not need his Cabinet colleagues, let alone the Fianna Fáil backbenchers - though he should have learned his lesson following the drubbing he received over the cafe bars legislation. Now he is driving forward with plans to begin the formation of a Garda Reserve later this year - though none of his Cabinet fellows realised that he intended to act so quickly when they agreed to the Garda Bill two years ago.
Given the controversial nature of this reserve, McDowell is going to need Fianna Fáil TDs to stand up to lobbying from the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors.Already there are the earliest of signs that some in Fianna Fáil are less enamoured of the idea than he may have realised - though most of the public appear to be in favour.
Just one year out from an election, the PDs are highly exposed, given that Mary Harney is in charge of Health and McDowell in Justice. He may yet find out that neither he, nor the Progressive Democrats, are a political island.