Out in the cold but eager for the fray – Colm Keaveney vows to fight on for soul of Labour

By TONY GALVIN OUT in the cold but unrepentant is where Labour Party Chairman and Galway East TD Colm Keaveney finds himself, one week after he defied his party's and the Government's hierarchy and voted against the Social Welfare Bill. He told The Tuam Herald that he had received a warm reception in Tuam over the weekend, with widespread support for his stance, but added that he was not naive enough to think this support would translate into votes. He knows, he said, that he has a real fight on his hands to retain his seat, especially in the face of trenchant opposition from Labour Party leadership to the furtherance of his career. He was never their choice as chairman and the former Worker's Party and Democratic Left members who now control the Labour leadership see Keaveney as a maverick and someone difficult to control. The warm reception he has received in his home town and constituency contrasts markedly with the icy reception he is receiving from former Government colleagues who now view him from across the Dáil chamber with hostility and in some cases, with envy. Long a thorn[private] His move is a major embarrassment for the coalition but the Tuam-based Deputy has long been a thorn in the side of his party's leadership and they are currently understood to be actively devising ways to oust him from the chairmanship of the party. He has already been stripped of his membership of three Dáil committees. However, Keaveney is not only unrepentant for crossing the house and voting against what he says is the unacceptable unfairness of imposing welfare cuts on carers and others while the well-off have, according to him, only an extra €1 on a bottle of wine to complain about; he is adamant that he will not relinquish the Labour chair. He argues that the grassroots elected him and the grassroots will have to reject him, as the chair is theirs to give, not the leadership's. He appears safe enough in this regard, as the leadership is unlikely to risk the wrath of the rank and file membership any time soon, especially as Keaveney would have a very good chance of being re-elected. His vote has placed him at the centre of a national media story and sees him at loggerheads with the Irish Establishment who view his move as rocking the boat and upsetting the status quo. Many of his fiercest critics come from within the media, but his parliamentary colleagues are also coming under pressure in their own constituencies, with people demanding to know why they are not making a stand like Keaveney. There is also growing unease within the Labour Party over their role in government, and the whispering has already begun about a heave against party leader, Eamon Gilmore. Keaveney told The Herald that he was not positioning himself to challenge Gilmore's leadership but he would welcome the debate that such a process would instigate. He argues that Labour is losing the communication battle; failing to get across the message of what they have achieved, such as the protection of social welfare rates, the minimum wage and other core issues for the party. Instead, he believes, Labour is taking flak for Fine Gael policies. Irish are social democrats 'I believe the Irish people are social democrats at heart. They are fair and are willing to make sacrifices when they can be shown to be necessary, provided they know the most vulnerable are being protected. There is solidarity in our society, one that is evident at this time of the year especially, but this Budget didn't capture this appetite for solidarity and I think that was a major mistake.' He says he did his figures and presented his data but felt he was being stonewalled. 'I really began to worry when I listened to the Fianna Fáil response to the Budget. Say what you like about these people, but they are savvy, experienced politicians and they were coming up with the same figures and conclusions as I had. The very ones I'd presented to my own Minister and senior Fine Gael figures. I had hoped my figures were wrong, but they weren't and with a heavy heart, I voted against my Government's Social Welfare Bill.' He argues that the measures being taken now are simply temporary adjustments for the well-off, but the poor are suffering permanent adjustments. Dáil is like open prison Deputy Keaveney admits that he finds the constraints of the Dáil frustrating and the lack of open debate disappointing. 'The Dáil is like an open prison. It's regimented. You're told what to do, to a set schedule which the whips control. This is why it creates such waves when someone steps out of the system,' he explained. He emphasised that he did not take his decision lightly and is too aware of the consequences of such actions to take the risk simply to grab a few headlines. 'I made my reservations well known and after a series of meetings was becoming confident that things could be tweaked to ensure this was a socially fair Budget. It was an intense period and I came under severe pressure, but in the end I consulted with family, friends and supporters and then made my own decision. I was not elected to prop up a Fine Gael view of the world. I had been buying time, but in the end I simply had to make this stand.' He says he is still surprised that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste could get it so wrong. He is in agreement with the Government's general strategy on the economy but placing an unfair share of the burden on the section of society that can least afford it, is simply unjust and not something the Labour Party he serves should go along with, he says. The animosity between Keaveney and his party leader, Caltra native Eamon Gilmore, runs deep. The Tuam man's propensity to speak his mind is not a trait likely to endear him to someone he described in a previous interview with the The Herald as a 'Stalinist Stickie' â€â€œ referring to Gilmore's Sinn Féin Worker's Party political roots. The rift turned into a chasm when Athenry-based Lorraine Higgins was imposed on Keaveney as a running mate before the last election. After years of building up his base via Tuam Town Council, Galway Co Council and two runs at the Dáil, Keaveney was confident he could secure the first ever Labour seat for the Galway East constituency. Higgins, a favourite of the party's hierarchy, had no known association with the party before this and Keaveney was livid. The two divided the vote fairly evenly between them, Keaveney securing just over seven per cent of first preference votes to his running mate's six. When she was eliminated she transferred impressively to Keaveney and this carried him home to take the fourth seat just short of the quota. The party line is that it was due more to good vote management than good luck that Labour took the seat, but there are few seasoned observers, including this writer, who give this explanation much credence. To add salt to the wound Eamon Gilmore then nominated Higgins to the Seanad. She has been shadowing Keaveney in Galway East ever since and trying to build up her own political base. From having no seat or effective organisation the constituency now has two rival organisations, both hoping to retain the seat, but in Higgins's case, with a change of face. In a constituency which has been butchered in the constituency review earlier this year, resulting in a huge swathe of North Galway being transferred to the new constituency of Galway-Roscommon (encompassing Ballinasloe and running north along a line touching the outskirts of Mountbellew and Dunmore), Keaveney has enough troubles besides worrying about Higgins on his tail. In addition, Galway East has dropped from a four to a three seater constituency. This is about as marginal as it gets. However, he says he is determined to retain his and Labour's seat. 'Under no circumstances will I be running as an independent in the next general election. I and my constituency team knocked on doors and gave a commitment. We have not reneged on these and I intend building up a strong constituency base, even if opposed by the party leadership. I have worked too hard and for too long to walk out of the party I believe in. People need to stay in and be about reform from within.' 'Let's be honest, Labour now has real credibility issues. We didn't keep our promises. This Budget was a blatant attempt to repackage our commitments and bring them into line with Fine Gael's view of the world. The real issue for that rank and file membership of the party is that the people who destroyed Labour's credibility are still running the show â€â€œ many of them advisers on €170,000 a year. If we are to regain our credibility we have to stand up to this entrenched cabal,' he concluded. With enemies targeting him in his own constituency, in the Dáil and in his own party, Keaveney needs the new friends his principled stand against welfare cuts have brought his way. He'll certainly need them as he faces into a fight for his political survival and for what he sees as the soul of the Labour Party. Say what you like about him, he's never dull. Interesting times ahead.[/private]