By John Spain

THE worst nightmare of the center left in Irish politics became a reality last weekend when Michael McDowell became the new leader of the Progressive Democrats.

The PDs are the junior partners, with Fianna Fail, in the coalition government that has run Ireland for the past decade. So that makes Michael McDowell, currently the minister for justice, the second most important figure in Irish politics, since he automatically also becomes Tanaiste (deputy prime minister) in succession to Mary Harney.

There will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth here among the politically correct crowd at McDowell’s ascension. All the trendy liberals, all the former college radicals who got jobs in the media instead of growing up, will be appalled.

All shades of the left here from the lunatic fringe in the Socialist Workers (most of whom are students who have never worked a day in their lives) to the center left in the Labor Party, will be horrified.

The army of do-gooders and professionals (working in the asylum seeker legal maze) who have facilitated the high level of illegal immigration here in recent years will also be upset. And of course our old friends in Sinn Fein/IRA won’t exactly be shooting off the (strictly ceremonial!) armalites in celebration either.

It is safe to say, in fact, that there is no more hated figure in Irish politics than Michael McDowell. The lefties, the Shinners, the Fianna Failers, a lot of the media, they all hate him.

Some of the lefty/liberal commentators in the media have written really vitriolic stuff about him dubbing him the Rottweiler, or the Mad Mullah, and suggesting that he is so right wing he is unhinged.

All of which confirms my view that he must be right, most of the time. And quite a few other people here would agree with my view that McDowell is by far the most courageous politician in Ireland. He’s the only one prepared to cut though the politically correct bull, to tell it like it is, to tackle the issues that really concern people head on.

In contrast, the other politicians — in all the parties here — come across as a crowd of cowardly procrastinators. McDowell’s combination of formidable brainpower and a lawyer’s biting turn of phrase make him the strongest performer in the Dail (Parliament).

He can wipe the floor with anyone in a debate. Fortunately for bumbling Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern, the leader who hates taking decisions, they are on the same side of the house.

McDowell’s record speaks for itself, as you can see if you look at the issues he has tackled as minister for justice and earlier as attorney general.

Most importantly he stood up to the IRA, tearing away the secrecy from their web of criminality. He was scathing about double standards in Sinn Fein. And although some were worried that his stance might endanger the peace process, there was also the likelihood that his intervention forced Sinn Fein and the IRA to start cleaning up their act.

McDowell pursued both the boys in the balaclavas and the good Sinn Fein suits with scathing statements about the widespread criminality — and as a result became the bete noir for Republicans.

Others joined in, but the truth is that without McDowell the Shinners and their “fundraisers” in the IRA probably could have carried on corrupting the democratic process here with banks heists and extortion rackets.

He was just as courageous on the immigration issue. At a time when all the other politicians were hiding behind a wall of political correctness, he spoke the truth in public about illegal immigration in spite of furious accusations of racism.

The only acceptable view in the media at the time was that all asylum seekers were genuine, and anyone who questioned this was ipso facto a racist.

Let me give you an example. Back then I was features editor on one of the national dailies here. One day walking to the office through the Moore Street market I passed five African women shopping at various stalls, all of whom were visibly pregnant.

At the features conference that day I suggested to the staff that these women must be using the Irish baby route to getting residency here and that it seemed to be a trend. This provoked outrage, with one of the features staff (with tears in her eyes) insisting that the women were just the right age to have babies and that it was just a coincidence that they were pregnant and in Ireland!

Later, of course, the truth emerged, and McDowell was central to closing off the Irish baby loophole in Irish law. He also spoke out about the fact that over 95% of asylum seekers were found to be bogus, and that some illegal immigrants were involved in crime and many were involved in welfare fraud.

His realistic stance on the immigration issue was widely supported by ordinary people here, who up to then had been despairing that anyone would ever be brave enough to tackle it.

At present, McDowell is introducing new legislation which will speed up the assessment of immigrant cases here. Up to now the delays have gone on for years. It will also provide for the immediate deportation of those involved in crime.

When McDowell first mentioned significant levels of welfare fraud by immigrants, he was again accused of racism in The Irish Times. So it was interesting that this Monday when the lead story on the front page of The Irish Times was reporting his arrival as PD leader, the off lead story was about a new inquiry which has revealed that widespread welfare fraud by foreign nationals has cost Irish taxpayers tens of millions of euro!

There were other issues as well where other ministers for justice had talked the talk, but McDowell was the only one brave enough to walk the walk. He took on the prison officers to reduce their absurd levels of overtime, and he is doing the same with the Gardai (police) by introducing a reserve force of assistant police. He has achieved this against formidable opposition.

He is also actually doing something about the shameful conditions in Mountjoy Jail by building a major new prison on a green field site just outside Dublin. When it is finished the Joy will be emptied and hopefully the drugs problem among the prisoners there can then be tackled in the new purpose built accommodation.

Outside his own area of direct responsibility for crime and security, McDowell has also played an important role in stiffening the resolve of a very pliable Cabinet when decisions were being taken on all kinds of issues.

There is widespread admiration for his courage and passion, even if it means that now and then he gets so irritated that he goes a bit over the top. Rather that than the paralysis that grips the rest of them round the Cabinet table.

Harney’s surprise resignation as PD leader, in fact, had been coming for a while. The party has slid in the polls and faced annihilation in next year’s general election unless something was done to inject new life into it. The truth is, her handing over to McDowell has not come a moment too soon.

Unless the PDs can reinvent themselves and recover their radical image they are dead, and they only have nine months to do this before the election.

Harney has made an enormous contribution to Irish political and economic life. Her legacy will last in the higher standards in public life we now demand and in the free enterprise, efficiency and competition that she promoted.

But for at least the last year Harney has been losing momentum, weighed down with the difficulties of trying to reform the Irish health system (it was typical of her integrity that she took on this role and then stuck with it when she could have moved on).

She was losing momentum and the profile of her party was suffering as a result. She was starting to show the signs of someone who was hanging in there.

The truth is she was no longer capable of giving the party the lift that it needs. So she has wisely and correctly decided to stand aside as leader (although she will continue as minister for health), and she has stepped down with her dignity intact.

McDowell will now provide a new cutting edge for the PDs. Whether it will be enough to restore their ratings and win enough seats for them to get back into government again with Ahern and Fianna Fail is hard to say at this stage. It would be a historic achievement if they can, although most political analysts think they are going to fail.

However, it would be a mistake to write McDowell off at this stage. He might yet pull it off. He does not have to get the country to love him, only the former level of PD support.

The pity is that McDowell can’t be Taoiseach. Then we might get some real leadership.

It could happen, of course. The PDs splintered from Fianna Fail in the angst generated by Charlie Haughey all those years ago and they could yet return there.