KERRY TD MICHAEL Healy-Rae has heavily criticised his brother for calling for Micheál Martin and Simon Harris to be replaced the day before the no-confidence vote in the government.
Speaking for the first time since his dramatic resignation as minister for state for forestry at the Department of Agriculture, Healy-Rae said when “those words were issued [during an interview on Radio Kerry] that’s what cost Kerry a ministry in agriculture”.
During the week of the fuel protests, Danny Healy-Rae took to the airwaves to say that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael should topple their two leaders.
Calling it “disappointing” and reflecting on what happened, Michael Healy-Rae told Kerry Today this morning with Jerry O’Sullivan that it is not the place of an independent TD to tell a parliamentary party what it should do.
The path that led to his resignation as minister of state unfortunately started when Danny Healy-Rae called for Harris and Martin to be toppled on Radio Kerry, he said, adding:
First of all, I was sacked on Radio Kerry, because that started it.
He went on to say that he was “put in an impossible situation”.
He added that the government was also put in an impossible situation, stating that the two Healy-Raes had agreed to support the government and having one step away from that commitment was not going to wash.
“The fire was lit here on the Monday, which I wasn’t aware of… but that fire started,” added Healy-Rae, who said he tried “vehemently to try and put things right, but a fire was started, I couldn’t stop it”.
‘I was pulled overboard’
“I was pulled overboard by the situation,” Healy-Rae said, adding that he is “upset” by what happened.
Following his resignation, Danny Healy Rae said he had no influence over his brother’s resignation as minister of state.
A lot of “soul-searching” will now have to be done by “team Healy-Rae”, telling the radio interviewer that the “cock-up” has caused damage.
“Team Healy-Rae has been damaged by this,” he said.
“All I wanted to do at all times was think about County Kerry. I was thinking about all the years that the Healy-Raes had given to get into some position where we could do something. We were finally in that position.
“All that needed to be done was to have political backbone and to stay on the course and fight from within government to do the best to deliver, because it’s all about delivery,” he said.
However, when Danny Healy-Rae broke his promise to support the government, the writing was on the wall, said Michael.
‘We gave our word to two men’
He added that he and his brother “gave our word to two other men, and that was the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, and then one of the people that gave their word was saying those two people should be gone”.
Healy-Rae said the whole experience “did knock me for six”, stating that it is one of the toughest experiences he has gone through politically.
He said that in signing up to support the government, the two Healy-Rae brothers were a “two-for-one” deal.
“All that needed to have happened was to have kept a cool head, to steady the ship, to think of Team Healy-Rae, to think of all the commitment, all the hours, all the days, all the years, all the canvassing, the support that we had from people… and to think that we are in a position, and by just saying those words, that these leaders should go… you can have your opinion, you can have your views inside, but you hold the line when you’re supporting the government,” said Healy-Rae.
He said that interview ended up “hurting” the people of Kerry and didn’t help anyone.
While he would not comment directly on the relationship with his brother, he said his family doesn’t do “blazing rows”.
“I am personally very upset, not personally on my behalf, but on behalf of the people of Kerry,” he said.
He said Danny should have informed him if he wanted to break the deal they signed up to to support the government, and should have told him what he was going to say on the radio that day.
When asked if he will ever work with his brother again politically, Healy-Rae said he will be careful with doing a deal with someone again, stating that you have to be able to rely on that person to have a backbone. However, he said no one knows what the future holds.
“Reliability is everything and being able to trust people is very, very important,” he added.
The Journal has reached out to Danny Healy-Rae for comment