This morning RTE reported on a leaked email, which had been sent from Labour chairman Colm Keaveney (top) to his party colleagues.
The email refers to “another context” to Roisin Shorthall’s resignation, one that labour leader Eamon Gilmore is unable to publicly discuss. He went on RTE R1’s Today with Pat Kenny a little earlier to explain what he meant.
It didn’t go as well as he had perhaps wished.
Colm Keaveney: “I’m the party chairperson, I think it’s important to declare I have a duty of care to communicate internally with my members. I was surprised to take a phone call this morning at 5.30am, where I was advised that excerpts of my communication, my internal communication had been cut and paste into a correspondence. So I think that it’s important that you’re aware that I’ve had a number of substantive discussions this week with Eamon Gilmore and within that context, a number of important matters have been discussed, one of which had been obviously the resignation of Roisin Shortall. But it was one, but not the only issue that I raised.”
Pat Kenny: “But this is the thing. Given, the high political stakes involved for Minister Reilly and Minister Shortall, you know, this context, what is this context? Can you tell us now?”
Keaveney: “Well there are internal matters, which I have no intention of discussing with you or to the media. They are of concern, of matters primarily to my fellow members. And…”
Kenny: “But I mean all you’re doing is thickening the plot.”
Keaveney: “Well no, I think you have to take the full correspondence that I circulated to the members of the party, in the context of the spirit of the correspondence. Somebody has deliberately cut and paste aspects of that correspondence to suit their own purpose. But, needless to say, I’ve had extensive discussions with the leader of the Labour party, around issues that have emerged, with respect to the management, over the course of the last two weeks. And it’s in that context that my concern has been outlined in that correspondence. Can I just say categorically…”
Kenny: “What, what is it that Eamon Gilmore cannot tell us now, because of the media atmosphere? I mean here’s your choice. I’m not going to, you know, try to second guess you here. But you’re really made me even more intrigued than I was at 7 o’clock this morning.”
Keaveney: “There are matters of communication. There are matters of quality engagement with respect to our membership on the ground, eager to assure that the quality of our engagement and that the listening mechanisms are of interest to the members on the ground, to ensure that our membership can identify with the challenge in the forthcoming budget.”
Kenny: “But the context, the Roisin Shorthall thing. I mean what is that context?”
Keaveney: “Well, I met with the party members this week. We raised a number of important matters. Roisin was one of those matters but there were many other important matters in relation to the political service of the organisation, the structures, the management, internal communication and that is the context in which…”
Kenny: “But you say (reading the email) ‘I am satisfied there is another context to the story that he’s not been able to publicly articulate given the media atmosphere at this time. This context needs to be discussed with the party’s members and is considering doing it at some point in time’. Like people are saying ‘OK, was there a Labour stroke going on that would offset the Fine Gael stroke. Did Roisin Shorthall have a meltdown at the Department. Did they come to blows?’ You know? What is the context?”
Keaveney: “Can I make two points? The context is an internal matter and, again, these are internal structural matters. I’m the chair of the Labour Party, I’ve the welfare of the membership and the structure of the party is a concern to mine. And this is an internal party communication, of which aspects have been selectively superimposed onto another statement. Can I just say categorically…”
Kenny: “Are you saying that you…no, you’re not saying that you didn’t write that. You’re saying…”
Keaveney: “I absolutely wrote it, in the context of another 1,400 words. And you’re not seeing the full spirit in which that it’s meant. Can I say to you that, I want to state categorically, there is absolutely no hint of impropriety on Roisin Shortall. She is an honourable and highly competent politician. And I have the height of respect for her. I think somebody has selectively used a number of quotes with respect to the internal communication and that has inferred something that’s contrary to the spirit of that communication. From my point of view…”
Kenny: “No, look. This basic sentence…whatever other hundreds of other words it may be couched in, it still says that Eamon Gilmore wants to say something but he can’t say it now because of the media atmosphere. What is it about the resignation of Roisin Shorthall, at this stage, that he doesn’t feel he can talk about?”
Keaveney: “Well…”
Kenny: “I mean is it his own interpersonal relationship with her?”
Keaveney: “No I infer in that correspondence, the issue of structural issues in the party that need to be adjusted in order to improve our communication.”
Kenny: “And was that the problem then? Roisin Shorthall and Eamon Gilmore’s lack of communication?”
Keaveney: “The issue of, the problems surrounding the concerns with Roisin and Eamon Gilmore are, have been publically articulated. My concern primarily is for the welfare of the Labour Party. And I want to secure.”
Kenny: “Can you not just clear this up now? Because you’ve got Billy Kelleher (Fianna Fail) jumping up and down, you will no doubt have others jumping up and down. We’ll have Caoimhhín Ó Caoláin (Sinn Fein) in part two of this programme. No doubt he’ll be jumping up and down, wondering what it is that we don’t know, that Eamon Gilmore, at this point, can’t tell us?”
Keaveney: “:The issue is here Pat that over the course of last week, the focus has been on, it’s a suggestion of some impropriety on behalf of the Minister for Health. And my issue here is that our communication was being clouded to our membership and that we lost message over the course of the last number of weeks with respect to the dynamic and the relationship issues at the Department of Health. My discussions with the Tanaiste, and there have been substantial discussions involve, internal party structural information that we need to address, with respect to servicing our membership.”
Kenny: “We still don’t know, like you’re talking about servicing the membership.”
Keaveney: “Hmmm.”
Kenny: “The Roisin Shorthall [issue] was nothing about servicing the membership. It was a row with James Reilly and we want to know is the context that you’re talking about the Freedom of Information business, is it the letter that did or didn’t arrive at Roisin Shorthall’s desk?”
Keaveney: “No, not the Freedom of Information business at all. It is not the business of the criteria and, again, I categorically state there was no hint of impropriety on Roisin’s behalf.”
Kenny: “And are you suggesting there’s a hint of impropriety on the part of Dr James Reilly?”
Keaveney: “Not at all. My concern, as chairperson, of the Labour Party is the welfare of the structure of the Labour Party. And in my engagement with Eamon Gilmore, over the course of the last week…
Kenny: Is it simply this? That Eamon Gilmore was really annoyed that he didn’t have a chance, because he was in America, to actually get down on bended knee and beg Roisin Shortall to stay for the sake of the cohesion of the Government? Is that it? Is it as simple as that?”
Keaveney: “No…”
Kenny: “And he doesn’t want to come out and say that he wanted time to beg?”
Keaveney: “My concern, as chair of the Labour Party, is the type of infrastructure we need to ensure that Eamon Gilmore is hands-on in relating his perspective with respect to the Department of Health, obviously, the primary care issue, the programme for Government. But my concern, as chairperson, is to ensure that there is a provision for that infrastructure for engagement. And that was the correspondence…”
Kenny: “All right, Colm. Well I have to say that you have muddied the waters even further than the leak of, or partial leak of a letter. That’s, I mean I’ve asked you…”
Keaveney: “Well, Pat, I think you should. Maybe Pat you should read the full letter, rather than the excerpts that have probably been provided to you by people who want to be politically mischievous.”
(Photocall Ireland)
