Dara Calleary and his vision for Mayo's future

by Dr. Richard Martin

Dara Calleary is a scion of a Ballina political dynasty.

His grandfather, Phelim, was a TD from 1952 to 1969 and served as Minister of State. His father, Sean, was a TD from 1973 to 1992. He also served as a Minister of State.

Dara Calleary was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 2007 and has remained there ever since. The Callearys have never lost an election.

When I asked why, he replied: "We don’t take them for granted. Simple as that."

On the darkest day in FF’s history when they were obliterated in the 2011 GE, he was one of only 20 party TDs who were returned to the Dáil.

It is also worth bearing in mind that the ‘blue tsunami’ was particularly acute in Mayo as Enda Kenny was the Taoiseach in waiting at the time.

Four FG candidates were swept in and all the other candidates in the field found themselves clinging onto lifeboats.

Calleary was the only one to make it to shore.

In retrospect, holding onto that seat may have been the most important election in FF’s history in this county.

He has become a focal point for the party in the county and someone whom the party could rally around. He has in many ways been the unofficial ‘leader’ of FF in Mayo over the past 15 years and is respected across all party lines.

In the GE of 2020, he retained his seat despite the huge, unprecedented populist surge in support SF received on polling day.

He also reached the quota for the first time on that occasion, which given the competitiveness of the field was a commendable achievement.

In the aftermath of the GE, he was appointed Minister for Agriculture after Barry Cowan was forced to resign.

Shortly after reaching cabinet, he was then forced to resign himself in August 2020 after he attended a luncheon in Connemara after an Oireachtas golf event.

There was a media frenzy coupled with public anger and dismay.

Of course, the whole thing was blown out of proportion and the event was later found to be lawful and compliant with the Covid restrictions in place.

Dara Calleary did not break any law or restriction that day. However, the damage was done.

The ensuing media frenzy forced his resignation.

It was a bad day for Dara Calleary and the people of Mayo. We lost our seat at the cabinet table. For Dara himself personally it must’ve been a hammer blow.

In addition to resigning from his ministerial role, Calleary resigned as deputy leader and national secretary of Fianna Fáil.

His life, destiny and whole career trajectory had been leading up to that point where he sat at the cabinet table at the heart of government, and it cruelly slipped through his fingers just as he’d reached the plinth.

It was a bit like watching the ball bounce over the bar at the end of the drawn 1996 All-Ireland final. A sucker punch.

There was huge upset all over the county across all party lines. We like having senior ministers in the county regardless of the political hue.

Politics is a tough business. How do you bounce back from something like this?

Mentally and emotionally, it must’ve been gut wrenching to have to resign from office and start the climb up the mountain all over again.

Since then, he has bounced back and is back sitting at the cabinet table as a super junior minister.

I met Dara at the FF breakfast campaign launch for Lisa Chambers in Breaffy House and I asked him if we could meet for a chat.

No problem. We arranged to meet at the TF for a coffee and so we did.

We met at the Yew Tree coffee shop, ordered coffee and got ourselves settled.

After the initial chit chat, I dispensed with the niceties and got straight through to it.

You were a cabinet minister. If you were still a minister you would landslide home and your seat wouldn’t be under threat. So, the question then, is, will you ever get back there?

"Absolutely. I’ve come back as a junior minister. Firstly, of course, it was the right thing to resign. It was a matter of integrity. I fought my way back to Minister of State in the Department of Enterprise, where I’ve led out on AI, artificial intelligence, led out on digital.

"And then to come from August 2020 to be back now at the Cabinet table, to be able to be a Super Junior, it’s shown a huge amount of resilience on my part."

I like that. If Mayo people are anything we are resilient. We always keep coming back.

I find all the super junior/junior minister terminology confusing so that was my next question.

What’s the difference between a Super Junior and a Minister? What is that exactly? I asked.

"It means I’m a Minister of State in the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment, but I don’t have voting rights at the cabinet table, which is irrelevant as Cabinet never votes, and I don’t have a department."

I was intrigued by how the cabinet process works. After all it’s how this country is run. I asked him what the usual process is.

"We attend Cabinet every Tuesday. Every party, including FF, has a pre-Cabinet meeting where we vote through the agendas and then we go into the cabinet room.

"There are 19 people in the cabinet room. The 15 cabinet ministers, the three super juniors and John Callinan, who is the most senior civil servant in the state.

"The meeting generally lasts two to three hours and runs fairly smoothly. We must leave our phones outside the room before we enter."

And what is it like in there, are there ever any rows across the table?

"Not particularly in the last few months. Because a lot of it is done in advance. The way this government works is that the leaders’ meetings are on Monday night, three leaders have met every week, and they go through the agenda. The agenda is also notified in advance, so you get your chance to make observations."

Alison was beside me clicking her camera as she always does, and he smiled.

She kept telling him not to blink. It’s hard not to when her camera is clicking and flashing. The coffee shop was busy. Really busy. And there was a lot of background noise.

But when I listen to the audio back as I write this, I can hear the passion in his voice as he answered the next question.

What’s it like going into that room, with all the history through the years? He smiled and said: "I’ve caught myself several times thinking about what has gone on in this room over the years.

"It’s hard at times not to get distracted and think of what it must’ve been like in this room in 2010 when tough decisions had to be made, 1998 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, 1994 when the Downing Street Declaration was signed. The decisions that are made in that room decide the fate of the country."

We segued at this juncture into a chat about the history of Ireland since the 1960s, most of which was dominated by the FF party and personalities like Lemass, Haughey, Flynn, Reynolds and Lynch.

His passion for FF and representing Mayo is obvious. He talked about wearing the ‘Mayo’ jersey in the Dáil and the pride he feels in representing his own county in the nation’s capital.

But, in describing Dara Calleary the one adjective that comes to mind is integrity. He is unquestionably a man of integrity.

Most politicians I’ve met claim credit for various projects. I did this. I did that. It wouldn’t be there only for me. And blah, blah. I’ve come across one politician who’d have you convinced they were responsible for the moon landing in 1969.

It’s the way of politics, I guess.

We spoke about Ballina and his love for the town.

The Innovation Quarter in the middle of the town has recently been opened.

He was quick to appropriate responsibility and credit to Michelle Mulherin for securing the core funding.

"It’s important to acknowledge that, Richard. The project cost €7.9 million to develop. I was responsible for €1.9 million in the funding which was needed to complete the project.”

I said that there’s a perception of him having not done enough for Ballina and that his first preference vote of 9,163 in 2020 could be diminished.

He shook his head forcefully and replied somewhat sharply: "Rubbish. I have a passion for local and national politics."

I interjected: "But what have you done? What are you responsible for?"

Quick as a flash he rhymed it off.

‘The Crossmolina Flood Scheme will be confirmed in the next month and the work will start next January. The people of Crossmolina have been waiting for this for 40 years. This would not be happening only for my persistence and dedication.

"Just last week, €445,000 was delivered to Ballina Stephenites, €9 million in funding for St. Muredach's College to renovate and develop the school, €23 million for St. Mary’s Secondary School in Ballina.

"The orbital ring road around the town will happen. The N26 is more challenging, as there are environmental issues that need to be addressed."

I smiled. He can bare the teeth when needed.

How did you do that? The huge funding allocations for the schools?

He grinned. "I sat on Norma Foley’s desk. Phoned her night and day until it was delivered."

I believe him. I believe he did all those things.

He’s very quick to claim responsibility for projects he has delivered but equally quick to hold his hand up and say: "That wasn’t me."

I asked him about Ballina Hospital. I’d read that there was funding allocated.

"I’ve worked closely with Simon Donnelly on developing a Minor Injuries Unit in Ballina. Work will commence on that in 2025. We need to take the pressure off Mayo University Hospital."

Aside from local projects what is your vision for Mayo going forward?

"The strategic development zone around Knock Airport. We must move forward and develop it and create an employment zone around it.

"I’ve put money in place, €200,000, to employ someone to make the STZ happen. It’s crucial for the future of this county to make it work."

He then started talking about Lemass again. I share the same reverence, so I understand. Lemass is the gold standard. Always was. Always will be.

"As a nation we need to develop our wind energy potential. This needs dual state and private enterprise collective investment, which was championed by Lemass in the ‘60s.

"Mayo is ideally placed to be a core point. Knock Airport is ideally placed. The STZ is ideally placed and the ATU is ideally placed.

"We will need engineers, technicians and tradespeople to work on the turbines. I want Mayo to get a dividend. A skills dividend. An infrastructural dividend. We need to learn lessons from the past and bring communities with us."

Normally I’m always a nudge ahead of the interviewee. At least I think I am!

I’d genuinely never thought about Mayo and our unlocked potential like this before.

As the world moves towards green energy, we as a people are sitting on a winning lotto ticket. The way he spoke about bringing the ATU, Knock Airport and the STZ together was exciting.

We need the right people at cabinet level to make this happen. Calleary is just the man to do it. He’s nervous about the upcoming election. No such thing as a safe seat.

Going by national opinion polls, FF should expect to get 13,360 FPVs. FF got 17,278 FPVs in the locals earlier this year. Split the difference and you get 15,319 FPVs.

The FF FPV total should be bounded between 15,000 and 16,000 votes. FF are running two candidates. Calleary or Dillon will top the poll, and both will reach the quota.

His FPV should be in the region of 8/9k with the quota at 11k. As a bookmaker I’d have him at 1/5.

He’d fought his way back to the table and, in this county, we love a fighter.