Cloch Le Carn RTÉ One, 17 March 2015 at 8.30pm
Caitheann Cloch Le Carn súil siar ar shaol agus ar shaothar Jackie Healy-Rae, polaiteoir cróga agus Ciarraíoch go smior a chuaigh ar shlí na fírinne ar an 5ú lá de mhí na Nollag 2014.
Cloch le Carn looks back at both the personal and political life of the wily Independent politician, Jackie Healy-Rae. His daughter Rosemary remembers fondly the Healy-Rae home in Kilgarvan that was filled with her father’s storytelling and music. She also speaks of his bitter disappointment at not being nominated by Fianna Fáil, the disappointment of Bertie Ahern refusing to come to his aid and the bursting pride the day he took his seat in the Dáil for the first time.
‘He loved Christmas as we all did. It started at the beginning of December and he’s be telling stories of how he met Santa on the Bog Road.’
‘That time when he didn’t get the nomination, I think it’s safe to say that he was devastated. He had stood back in the wings all those years, and then when it came around to what he saw as his turn, he was dropped’
Rosemary Healy-Rae
Jackie Healy-Rae worked tirelessly for Fianna Fáil over several decades, delivering many election victories for the party. He broke ranks with them in 1997 having failed to get a nomination to contest the general election in Kerry South and won a seat as an Independent. Victory was sweet revenge for Jackie, and when Bertie Ahern sought his support to form a government, Jackie presented him with a long list of demands for his local area.
Risteard Ó Lionáird worked closely with Jackie on all of his campaigns. He recalls that while Bertie Ahern was courting Jackie’s support, Fine Gael were offering their own sweeteners in an effort to woo the south Kerry politician. John Bruton’s rainbow coalition offered him a position in Cabinet as Minister for Agriculture. In turn he used this offer to gain even more concessions from Bertie.
‘We went out to St. Luke’s where Celia Larkin was waiting for us. She told us she had the kettle on’
‘We got Fine Gael to send a fax to Jackie, outlining their offer and this fax was used in the talks
with Fianna Fáil, to make sure all the important demands were granted’ Risteard Ó Lionáird
Former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern remembers Jackie with great affection. He recalls the rivalry between John O’Donoghue and Jackie Healy-Rae, both from the same political patch and both obsessed at being the first to claim credit for an local good news story, a rivalry which caused John O’Donoghue some stress and anxiety.
‘All of Jackie’s issues were local issues , the bends , the crossroads’
‘John (O’Donoghue) would go ballistic and attack some cabinet colleague for giving him (Jackie Healy-Rae) the information beforehand’ Bertie Ahern, Former Taoiseach,
Presenter/Reporter: Pádraig O Driscoll
Producer/Director: Seán Ó Méalóid
NOTE TO EDITORS :
The title of this occasional series “Cloch le Carn ” could be literally interpreted as “adding a stone to the funeral mound” but in reality the series takes a constructive but not always uncritical look at public figures who’ve made a contribution to Irish society in their lifetimes.