This is usually interpreted as a meditation on the transitory nature of life and work. When the jig is up it’s up. It originates in the account of Belshazzar’s feast in the collection of folktales known as the Book of Daniel. During the celebrations a disembodied hand appears and writes a message on the wall behind the bould Belshazzar. Basically, it said “the days of your kingdom are numbered, you have been weighed and found wanting”.
Never mind that it’s just a folk tale, nor indeed that we are dependent on a fairly dodgy translation, the image and the import are compelling and tenacious. And boy did the moving fingers write for Enda Kenny.
The headlines, features and commentaries must have been ready for months. The media couldn’t wait to see the back of him. He was hounded and door-stepped from pillar to post, even as far as Canada, where he responded incredulously, and justifiably, to one Irish journalist, “I can’t believe actually that you have travelled this distance to ask a question like that”. His colleagues in Fine Gael were interrogated on his and their plans and timeframes at every possible juncture.
Why were journos so keen to shove him off the stage, other than that he said he wouldn’t lead his party into the next general election? Like, it’s not as though a change of leader is going to hugely change either party or Government policy. But other than changing dancing partners and refreshing the pictures and voices and personalities, what end was served?
There wasn’t any great public clamour for change, despite lowish poll ratings. People generally prefer a quiet life and recognise that many of our biggest problems, for example health, are legacy issues handed down from generations past and others, with the notable exception of water charges, are challenges for management rather than policy. So why the hue and cry?
Up here on Hog Heights it seems like a bad case of cabin fever. The political media simply grew bored and restless. They craved a bit of excitement, the Shakespearean intrigue, the cabals and covens, the smoke and daggers (thanks for that one Bertie), the thrill of the chase, a day at the races and a chance to don the fascinators.
Not for the first time one has a sinking feeling that for all their Masters degrees and self-regard many Irish political journalists are less concerned with the slow cookery of ideology and policy than with the fizz, fart and fire of bread and circus. Granted, that may be all that’s on offer but if it isn’t interrogated then we’re stuck in a never-ending cycle of eeny meeny miny mo, aren’t we?
Yes, Fine Gael wouldn’t be number one for excitement. The next few weeks may be as wild as it gets. You don’t choose them for fun and games. But look what happened when voters took that route. It all ended in tears and recrimination… and a landslide for Kenny’s Fine Gael and Gilmore’s Labour. There are certainly black spots on Kenny’s record, water charges in particular. The key decision was taken far too late and, thanks to a complacent Minister (Phil Hogan), the whole thing was badly judged and poorly handled. But overall, Kenny has been a successful Taoiseach. He has displayed stamina, resilience and political cleverness. On his watch we recovered from the crash, admittedly unevenly and, for some, unfairly, but the ship stayed afloat and that was a far greater achievement than is understood. As well as economic stabilisation, there has been key progress in other areas. His careful and determined cultivation of EU Member States post-Brexit resulted in the inclusion of quite specific statements in the EU’s plan of campaign for the Brexit process. Also, of course, one thinks of the same-sex marriage referendum. Kenny may have been unobtrusive at the outset but his delight at the yes vote as plain for all to see and although many groups would like to play up their contribution and play down the Government’s, it wouldn’t have happened without their support and commitment. Yet, Kenny has been consistently underestimated and underappreciated in Ireland where his public standing doesn’t reflect his ability or achievements home and away. It’s different in the rest of Europe where he is very highly thought of indeed and includes Angela Merkel among his admirers. Sniff all you like, but Germany matters. A lot. The irony is that Kenny exits just as the political centre, of which he sometimes seemed the last man standing in Europe, has regrouped, withstanding the far right in Austria, Holland and France and now, it appears, in Germany. As one of the most senior politicians on that stage, and one whose calm rebuke of Trump, and to his face to boot, generated global approval, Kenny might well have had further contributions to make, something that his successor, whoever that might be, will not be capable of for a long time. In The Wild Bunch Pike Bishop (played by William Holden) declares: “We’re not gonna get rid of anybody! We’re gonna stick together, just like it used to be! When you side with a man, you stay with him! And if you can’t do that, you’re like some animal, you’re finished! We’re finished! All of us!”
But what am I thinking? Fine Gael and The Wild Bunch?!? Nah, their plotters and rivals would have much more in common with Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, who reminds Cassius that there is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.
The media concur. The show goes on. Alarums and excursions. Noises off.