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Remembering the late Brian Lenihan
Opinion: He was a lump of gold amongst coal.
What the former Finance minister thought was only average stomach pains and insomnia in fact turned out to be his killer, pancreas cancer. Think what you will of Brian Lenihan, but it must be said that he was a champion and an inspiration to fellow cancer sufferers. Of course the vital question which must be asked is in the unlikely event of there not being a recession, as minister of finance, would Brian Lenihan still have suffered from cancer? Given that pancreas cancer can be caused by stress, the answer to the preceding hypothesis seems to be, no. If you agree with this probable answer then try to remember any other political champion of the western world who played as important a role in government as Brian Lenihan and continued such difficult, but simultaneously gallant duties while facing an impending death?
It’s awful of me to mention Lenihan and Jade Goody in the same paragraph. The only similarities between both is that they were both cancer sufferers, and were both in the public eye, for very different reason’s however; Lenihan’s contributions to society were admirable, valid and memorable, while Goody’s contributions to society were only pilings on to an already tacky, confused and incurable form of British culture. Two other differences came in the form that Goody was a narcissist, scraping tabloid attention to the very end. While Lenihan didn’t need an excuse or a newspaper headline for people to come to admire him. It came naturally. Goody also seemed to make social and financial profit out of her impending, inevitable death. Lenihan dismissed the idea of his death being inevitable. Indeed this was surely only a small example of his putting the country before his health. Although he and his family probably knew all along, that Brian would be watching the door, waiting for death. It’s quite admirable for one man to persuade the public to ignore his health; and instead focus on the health of the economy, family and friends. This most gallant self-depreciation makes one imagine what Brian may have colloquially said re: his health “There are more important things than my health, like getting this country out of this crisis. We should focus on that and not me! People have more important things to be worryin’ about than me!”
Described by Micheál Martin, leader of Fianna Fáil, as ‘an intellectual powerhouse’ and 'he was quite simply brilliant, and often in a league of his own.' What can one say about Brian Lenihan that hasn’t already been said by his party colleagues that would once more show the merits which were so evident in the man, such as a willingness to listen to constituents, passion and patriotism. Regarding the last adjective just used, which is particularly true; that was most evident in August last year when Brian Lenihan spoke at a memorial service for Michael Collins in the place that he was assassinated: Mouth of the Flowers, Co. Cork. Such an act shows Lenihan’s disassociation with the boundaries of political histories and primitive tribalism. This is irregular of most politicians, especially ones from Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.
You the reader, may not be in the sympathetic majority. Maybe you lost your job or had to suffer a cut in your welfare and need someone to blame. Although, you must remember, that fiscal responsibility is something that has rarely been grasped by any government of the Irish State. For the betterment of this country, he tried very hard to grasp it. And also did so in the most sensitive way. The predictable rebuttal to this will be that he cut social welfare. Indeed he did; he cut welfare spending that was already taking up 55% of our expenditure in pre-Budget 2010. He also took on the poison chalice that was the ministry of finance, with only one year as minister of Justice and Equality and 5 years as Minister of Children. It is thus fair to say that he wasn’t the favourite for the job. But no, he was still given and gladly took on the role of the minister of finance. He became the face of austerity cuts, or fiscal reorganization to put it more generously.
May I remind the reader that I am not, never have been and never will be a member of Fianna Fáil, as I don’t believe in self-abuse, mental or physical. He was however a lump of gold amongst coal. He was credible and compassionate among cronyism. He was one of the very few in FF who was never self-interested financially or politically.
By: Cormac Declan O’Malley
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