Adams's past not such a burning issue

RADIO REVIEW:There were signs that the debate was not only a sideshow but that it was earning the Sinn Féin leader a sympathy vote

THEY HAVEN’T gone away, you know. No matter how much Gerry Adams may otherwise wish, the questions about his past continue to hound him. As his radio appearances last week testified, the Sinn Féin leader’s decision to stand in Louth has seen his claim that he was never a member of the IRA publicly scrutinised to a degree previously unseen this side of the border.

Adams may bristle at the persistence of the issue – or "smear", as he described it on Tuesday's Lunchtime(Newstalk, weekdays) – but it brought a hitherto missing spark to election coverage on the airwaves, aided by a few own goals. Throughout his interview with Newstalk's Damien Kiberd, Adams sought to focus on the present, opposing the IMF/EU bailout while suggesting his peace process experience was an asset when it came to negotiating a new deal.

Kiberd wondered whether this meant burning the bondholders, asking his guest if he would “pull the pin on the grenade”. “I wouldn’t use those evocative terms, Damien,” Adams cautioned. Such discretion was short-lived, however. Adams went on to decry the universal social charge as “an act of gross terrorism, and I use that term advisedly.” It was a bit rich coming from a man who spent years denying that the IRA committed terrorist acts, never mind whether he was part of the organisation.

But, as shown on Wednesday's Today With Pat Kenny(RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), Adams's rhetoric can catch up with him. On a panel with other constituency candidates, held in Dundalk's Old Gaol, he reiterated his non-membership of the Provos, while stressing his support for them. He had, he said, been shot, bombed, jailed and beaten for his beliefs. "Given what happened to you," said Kenny, winding up to a zinger with characteristic calm, "people will be wondering why you never joined the IRA." Adams knew he had walked into a sucker punch: "Fair enough," he said.

But later, when journalist John Kierans opined that people did not mind if Adams had been an IRA man but simply did not believe his story, hence the repeated questions, his tetchiness boiled over: “Why don’t you ask Eamon Gilmore the same question?” It was a barb clearly aimed at the Labour leader’s origins in the Workers’ Party, but it came across as a petulant outburst. Likewise, Adams’s remark that this grilling reminded him of Castlereagh interrogation centre was glib, highlighting a self-pitying discomfort with the rough-and-tumble of electoral politics. But if the spotlight on his past was unfair, it was not Adams who suffered: his performance made for such compelling on-air theatre that it overshadowed the contributions of the other candidates.

For some, Adams's mere participation in the election is too much. Sunday Independentcolumnist Eoghan Harris vented his spleen on the matter on Thursday's Breakfast(Newstalk, weekdays). Prompted by host Ivan Yates, Harris – who said he supported "people of quality" such as Bertie Ahern rather than political parties – stated his nausea at Sinn Féin's rising poll numbers and his disgust at other leaders' "mealy-mouthed" criticism of Adams. Citing the case of Jean McConville, in whose 1972 murder Adams has denied any involvement, Harris said, "The problem is not his economics, it's his morals."

But on that reliable barometer of public outrage, Liveline(RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), there were signs that the debate was not only a sideshow but that it was earning the Sinn Féin leader a perverse sympathy vote. One caller, Bob, felt the issue was irrelevant. Another, Michael Waters, felt it was time for politicians to move on, as "everyone knows what Gerry Adams has done", a statement that sent Joe Duffy into full libel-avoidance mode: "Hang on, how does everyone know what he has done?"

By contrast, The Right Hook(Newstalk, weekdays) featured two erstwhile politicians more than happy to revisit the past. Donning his former Fine Gael minister hat, Yates joined ex-Fianna Fáil TD Jim Glennon to reminisce with George Hook about the nuts and bolts of getting elected. Anecdotes abounded, from the etiquette of canvassing (such as buying rounds for entire pubs) to the need for funds, with Glennon enigmatically referring to "biscuit tins under beds". It was all very jolly, but when Glennon chuckled about an election-day stroke supposedly pulled by disgraced former minister Ray Burke, it was a sour reminder of the cynicism that landed Ireland in its current mire.

When the misdeeds of an imprisoned politician are fondly remembered, no wonder people are so jaded they overlook the sins of the past.

Radio moment of the week

Listeners tuning into Monday’s Morning Ireland (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) might have thought they’d tuned into a radio version of Trainspotting. Covering a spate of drug-related deaths in Kilkenny, Cathal Mac Coille interviewed Pat Connaughton of the South-East Drugs Task Force who said addicts were overdosing on pure heroin coming into the area. He then offered all-too-graphic tips on drug use. “Never do it alone, always do a tester shot or smoke a line or two to test the strength of it,” said Connaughton. A note of alarm entered Mac Coille’s voice: “Let’s make this clear for us: your first advice, I assume, would be don’t take heroin?” Yes, said Connaughton, thus saving the programme a tabloid lashing as a junkie’s primer.