Bertie Ahern - Legacy

Legacy

Historian John A. Murphy said:

"Did Ahern, in his 11 years of power, make the most of this unprecedented prosperity for the public benefit? The answer can hardly be positive, given the present state of health, education and infrastructure, generally."

Historian Diarmaid Ferriter said:

"There'll be broad consensus around what Bertie did in Northern Ireland, the social partnership and the unity he brought to his own party. Also, he made Fianna Fáil the permanent party of government. They used to have all of the power most of the time, but now they have most of the power all of the time. All of that takes skill. But I wonder will people talk about 'Ahernism'? Is there any such thing? What does he actually stand for? In some ways Bertie's lack of vision was a positive, it made him flexible and willing to compromise, and he was certainly outstanding in that regard. But I dissent from the universal plaudits going around at the moment. He had no social or economic vision for the state he led. There was no fire in his belly. He didn't really want to change society for the better. He was the ward boss writ large. But at the moment it seems it's unfashionable to say anything adverse about Bertie."

Stephen Collins noted that:

"None of his colleagues is really sure whether he is possessed of all the deviousness and cunning attributed to him by Haughey or whether he simply suffers from chronic indecision disguised as political shrewdness".

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary noted in a radio interview that

"Bertie squandered the wealth of a generation and I think in time it will be proven he was a useless wastrel." In November 2009 Ahern was again criticised by O'Leary, being described as a "feckless ditherer".

A documentary series – Bertie – on RTÉ television in November 2008 examined the life and career of Ahern.

Colm Keena in a biography of Ahern described how his desire for power and an almost complete absence of political conviction, left him open to the influence of those with strong opinions, whose interests precipitated his mismanagement of the Irish economy.