Gucci comes to Dublin

Press, 30 August 1989, Page 20

Gucci comes to Dublin

AMONG the sturdy men of the Irish countryside, the phrase “Italian tailoring” has only ever had one meaning: the sort of clothes worn by the Pope. Which may go some way to explaining the stir caused by Mr Ray MacSharry, Ireland’s European Community commissioner, when he visited the Dublin horse show on August 10. Before he left for Brussels in January, Mr MacSharry was the picture of a politician from the populist Fianna Fail party. He wore overly sober suits, pomaded hair, white shirts and stout shoes. He usually stuck two pins in his lapel, one a fainne pin, which fluent Irish speakers wear to invite others to address them in Irish, and a “pioneer” badge, a mark of support for the temperance league. No more. After seven months in charge of the agriculture portfolio in Brussels, Mr MacSharry has gone continental. For the debut of his new style at the horse show, he wore a bright blue checked suit. It had a box-

jacket and baggy trousers. His shoes were Gucci, or nearly so. His tie was paisley. The pomade was gone from his hair.

There may be more to this change than just a mid-life crisis for the 51-year-old commissioner. Mi- MacSharry was a highly regarded Finance Minister in Mr Charles Haughey’s previous Government. He helped push the debt-ridden Irish economy back towards recovery. He left for Brussels when his own popularity, and Mr Haughey’s, were high.

Since then Fianna Fail has suffered a humiliating election defeat: in June, Mr Haughey failed for the fifth time to secure an over-all majority in Parliament, and was forced into a coalition with the Progressive Democrats. The coalition is causing discontent in the local branches of Fianna Fail.

There is talk of replacing Mr Haughey as party leader. If a move against him comes — probably after Ireland finishes

its six-month term as president of the European Community in the middle of 1990 — Mr MacSharry will be near the top of the list of likely successors.

What has that got to do with the Armani look? Any student of Mr Haughey’s style will have noticed how much the party grassroots enjoy the Prime Minister’s new-money chic. Mr Haughey, born poorish, now lives in a stately home, owns a private island, and wears notably slick suits.

Well done, his followers say. The Irish, who suffer one of the heaviest tax regimes in Europe, like to be kicked with a wellshod foot.

Mr MacSharry may be planning to use his lush new salary (more than SNZIBO,OOO after tax) to present the same sort of picture. He perhaps went too far for the moment with his suit, but then he is searching for the right balance. A fainne pin was still struck in the Milanese lapel. Copyright — The Economist