{"id":647410,"date":"2026-08-20T15:00:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/647410\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T15:00:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T15:00:29","slug":"mick-clifford-on-the-healy-rae-documentary-a-political-soap-opera-turned-greek-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/647410\/","title":{"rendered":"Mick Clifford on the Healy-Rae documentary: A political soap opera turned Greek tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Healy-Raes<\/a> would have fitted neatly into ancient Greece, with their heroes, homespun philosophy and unique twist on democracy, all taking shape in the shadow of great and mysterious mountains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But above all, as documented in The Healy-Raes: Blood, Sweat and Tears, through their tragedy, Michael takes the role of Icarus, flying too close to power.<\/p>\n

Jerry Kennelly\u2019s film on RT\u00c9 was compulsive viewing. The Healy-Raes, as depicted in the unobtrusive narrative, would have been box office without the cracking denouement of Michael\u2019s resignation<\/a> from government earlier this year. But when Kennelly\u2019s timing coincided with that pot of gold, a lively soap opera took on the character of Greek tragedy.<\/p>\n

You may watch politics till the cows come home and you won\u2019t encounter the contorted pain etched on Michael\u2019s face as he raked the embers of his truncated ministerial career. You could nearly see Jackie, God of all the Healy-Raes, in apparition atop the McGillicuddy Reeks, talking down to his broken son. \u201cGod blast it man, blame them all for this, but don\u2019t be blaming Danny. Don\u2019t burst up the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Healy-Raes, as depicted in the film, are not a party so much as a movement. A succession of contributors, each described as a \u201cHealy-Rae supporter\u201d, explained patiently the attraction.<\/p>\n

They have their people in every crevice of Kerry life<\/a>, from the rocky slopes of Coomaciste at the southern extremity all the way to the banks of the Shannon. If anything moves in the undergrowth, a Healy-Rae phone begins pinging within minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Healy-Raes were born canvassing,\u201d says communication guru Terry Prone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork, work, work,\u201d says Michael. And there is no doubt that his days are long and he rarely stops to draw breath. But to what end?<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Healy Rae pictured in his office at the Department of Agriculture. Picture; Jerry Kennelly\/Local Story Films<\/p>\n

Nowhere in an extended documentary does Michael, Danny or their various political offspring<\/a> utter a single political thought other than \u201chelping people\u201d. There is no issue that Michael holds up as an exhibit that his career has been about anything other than getting re-elected.<\/p>\n

No private members\u2019 bill. No \u2018dog with a bone\u2019 approach to anything of national concern in Oireachtas committee meetings. Not one iota from an intelligent mind on the supposed essence of politics, bettering society as a whole. Instead, it\u2019s all about the constituency, where more often than not \u201chelping people\u201d amounts to giving a root up the rear end to some arm of the public service.<\/p>\n

To be fair, the Kennedys of Kilgarvan have gone further on occasion. The establishment, with other politicians in West Cork, of the cataract bus bringing people to the north for treatment is a worthy testament to their constituency work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the payday,\u201d Michael says of one constituent who testified to the difference the excursion made to his life. \u201cI\u2019ve helped that person and they\u2019re happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet another encounter in the film highlights what his career has largely been about. He tangled on Virgin Media with Ivan Yates<\/a> following a committee meeting at which Michael was obsequious to the FAI\u2019s John Delaney<\/a>, at a time when Delaney was failing to answer questions, much to the consternation of all the other committee members. Irrespective of Delaney\u2019s role in dragging the game nationally into major controversy, all Michael saw was a man who once assisted in getting a pitch for a club in north Kerry.<\/p>\n

Danny is depicted as the plus-one of the sibling arrangement. \u201cA loose cannon,\u201d according to Yates. At the same time, Danny offers a glimpse at the human behind the politician, particularly recalling how he missed his mother when she left for America.<\/p>\n

The older sibling is a horse of a man, but his political persona stands in contrast to the dictum once issued by Mary Harney that \u201cthe worst day in government is better than the best day in opposition\u201d.<\/p>\n

For Danny, being in opposition means he will never let anybody down. He will always reside on the side of the angels, where he can\u2019t ever be blamed for the compromises that have been integral to governing since the Greeks first stumbled on democracy.<\/p>\n

\"DannyDanny Healy Rae pictured above Commaun Ridge and Caragh Lake. Picture; Jerry Kennelly\/Local Story Films<\/p>\n

All of which brings us to Michael and his Odyssey into the darkness of government on a wing and a prayer. The agreement the brothers struck with Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael after the 2024 election saw Michael become a junior minister in Agriculture. Nobody should be surprised that he was both in his element and doing a damn fine job until the fuel protests<\/a> exploded earlier this year.<\/p>\n

At that point, Danny determined that all bets were off and he was resorting to his role on the side of the angels, or at least the angry protesters. Michael\u2019s goose was cooked. He resigned but was less than frank about his reason for doing so, citing \u201cgrown men crying on the side of the road\u201d rather than the brother\u2019s flighty character.<\/p>\n

He emerged weeks later, bruised and wingless, to tell Gerry O\u2019Sullivan on Radio Kerry that it was Danny\u2019s treachery<\/a> rather than the weeping contractors who did for his ministerial career. And yet, what did Danny do but take the path of least resistance, which Michael had himself done all his long career right up until the last election? The Greeks would have made hay with that one.<\/p>\n

The next generation of Healy-Rae councillors weighed in along family lines, with Jackie talking on behalf of his old man and John and Maura seeing the split through Danny\u2019s eyes. Netflix producers, are you watching?<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s climax is marked by Kennelly pushing a desperately pained Michael on the contrasting reasons he gave the people of Kerry for leaving them high and dry. Michael, uncharacteristically like a man savaged by the Gods, wants it all to end.<\/p>\n

\u201cJerry, can we finish,\u201d he pleads. \u201cDamn it you\u2019re an intelligent man, the sequence of events is clear as a pike staff.\u201d Except Michael\u2019s contrasting explanations are not, and for once he can\u2019t slide off the hook.<\/p>\n

Will the people of Kerry forgive and move on? You betcha. The smart money says the movement will retain two seats at the next election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Healy-Raes would have fitted neatly into ancient Greece, with their heroes, homespun philosophy and unique twist on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[4488,204115,49928,9,10,18,13,14,6,19,2902,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":["post-647410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-irish-examiner-instagram","tag-kerry-news","tag-the-healy-raes","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-insight","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117128438925438794","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}