Only 6 days into 2009, Brian Cowen is busy preparing us all for financial armageddon, but his predecessor, our Iar Thaoiseach is starting to make hay while the sun does not shine.
Before Christmas we heard about the book deal – Richard Aldous is to be regarded as Ahern’s partner (no not that type!) in that venture – rather than ghost writer. Also last month a FOI revealed Berties special Iar Taoiseach’s very special phone bill.
As you may remember Bertie broke his leg late last year and this seems to have scuppered a few plans for a speaking engagement or two in the USA. But news reaches Maman Poulet today that the gigs are back on!
At the end of February, the ‘honorable’ Bertie Ahern will speak at an event inaugurating the Molloy College
Irish Studies Institute. (honorable??? Ah we might need to do a bit of protocol research, never mind ponder on dishonorable..)
So from today I’m instituting a new project on Maman Poulet – documenting Bertie Earners. All tips and comments are welcome. Surely there might be a few other earners events happening that week in New York or the east coast?
There’s no ‘honorable’ from a protocol perspective, AFAIK. The title applied to the Lords Mayor of Dublin and Cork until 2002, when it was rescinded (well, written out would be more accurate) by the Local Government Act. I don’t think it ever applied to a Taoiseach – and certainly would be very unlikely to since the Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
The honorific had applied to the Lords Mayor because they were ex-oficio members of the Irish Privy Council (even though that body hasn’t existed in more than fifty years).
Mr Obama has a good maxim in the USA, and it could apply here: there is only one President at a time. Or maybe a pig in an anorak is still a pig…
Maman Poulet » Bertie to miss Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis? // Feb 27, 2009 at 10:35
[...] as one of the days Bertie Ahern, our Iar Thaoiseach was due to be away on a Bertie Earner. I previously posted on this event at Molloy College in New York which had to be cancelled following his accident [...]