Inside the room
The untold story of Ireland’s crisis government
Eamon Gilmore
Merrion Press
My son has just started secondary school and history is now a more definite subject for him. It’s not just past events that he is looking at he Will he diss dying their cause and effect. Of course bias will come in to it. Whether it is his preconceived notions or maybe his teachers view of the world or Ben the history books. Yep facts are fact but sometimes they can be interpreted. Remember statistics can be made to make whatever point you wish to force home.
Here we have The leader of the labor party at the time explain bing his rationale behind going into coalition government in 2011. It gives some background to the election leading up to it and then some pieces around the formation of the government. And then the story moves to the government.
Politicians are well know for their ability to spin a story to their benefit. It’s how they survive. While he has now retired this version of the facts does still carry some spin. And why wouldn’t it? It’s not an independent dissertation on how the government did. It’s one persons account of what part he played in what was the worst time imaginable to enter into Government.
Overall there’s some interesting tales, we get a little feel for behind the scenes maneuvers but the game is not given away. We have a book where one man is trying to take credit for a lot, trying to ensure that his opponents don’t gain traction for their criticism. It’s not an opening up or a heart rendering story about the time the country was in crisis. It’s not a tale of hardship, Gilmore is always trying to portray hope. A hope that he was riding through town on. By the end I just wanted the book to be over, much like his government. He was seeking to claim credit for so much when what the Irish people were seeking was some humility.
