No ordinary Joe
He’s one of the last great orators in Irish politics. But there’s more to Joe Higgins TD than firebrand socialism. In this candid interview, the man once described as a ‘nitwit’ by an enraged Bertie Ahern talks about his childhood, the role of the church in his life and explains why the Celtic Tiger has let Ireland down
Olaf Tyaransen, 12 Oct 2006
Although Joe Higgins claims to be just like a character in a certain Christy Moore song, the reality is that he’s no ordinary Joe. When the TD for Dublin West, and the sole Socialist Party deputy in Dáil Eireann, stands to speak in the house, there’s generally an air of hushed expectancy. Occasionally, there’s even a vague whiff of fecal matter wafting around the government benches.
Although the 57-year-old Kerryman was famously described as a “nitwit” by an enraged and embarrassed Bertie Ahern, nothing could be further from the truth. Whether you agree with Higgins’ policies or not, nobody can deny that he’s one of the finest orators in contemporary Irish politics. Admittedly, he doesn’t have very much competition – but by anyone’s standards, he’s rarely dull. Sometimes, he’s even hilarious.
It’s hardly surprising that the Taoiseach doesn’t like him. Since his first election in 1997, Higgins has consistently been a thorn in Bertie’s side. Whether needling him about the corruption allegedly riddling Fianna Fáil, protesting against water, bin and other stealth taxes, or accusing the government of cosying up to the multinationals, Higgins generally hits the home truth bulls-eye with an economy of well chosen, acerbic and deftly delivered words.
He doesn’t just lighten the mood or score points, he also gets very real results. In early 2005, Higgins raised the issue of abuse of migrant Turkish labourers by the multinational construction company, GAMA. He described it as “a master fraud by a major entity in the construction industry in this country, a grand larceny of worker’s wage amounting to millions of euro each month, stolen from the from the workers, and tens of millions over the last year alone.”
GAMA had been invited into Ireland by the government, and awarded a number of extremely lucrative building contracts. Ahern reluctantly mumbled something non-committal about looking into it, and Ceann Comhairle Rory O’Hanlon admonished Higgins for naming the company. But the scandal didn’t go away, mainly because the feisty firebrand socialist never shut up about it.
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