Rhodri Morgan's comments are not a laughing matter

To describe Rhodri Morgan's joke about Ian Paisley at the Labour Conference as a gaff belittles the context and the issues surrounding the politics of the North of Ireland, and the way in which Rhodri Morgan conducts himself in public. Ok, the 'joke' is an old one, but Rhodri Morgan clearly lacks the ability to assess the severity of his actions, and grapple with the senstive nature of politics in the run up to the Assembly election in the North of Ireland.

For a start, we've seen a near stale mate situation in the North over the last year with the suspension of the Assembly, and Paisley and co. refusing to work alongside Sinn Fein time after time. In the last few weeks, things have taken a turn for the better somewhat following Sinn Fein's decision to sit on the North's Policing board which overseas the PSNI. Paisley has shown small signs of willingness to work with Sinn Fein in light of the policing announcement, but with what looks like a DUP First Minister and a Sinn Fein Deputy following the election this month, politics in the region is still far from harmonious. Only time will tell whether or not this power sharing agreement will be successful. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that there is a general lack of understanding of the politics of the North of Ireland from those who do not take a genuine interest in it. If Rhodri had been involved in any peace negotiating situations, he would certainly not have made such a flippant comment as part of a serious key-note speech.

The other strand of this issue is the way in which Rhodri Morgan conducts himself in public. What has always annoyed me about Rhodri Morgan is that he creates a sense of being 'above' politics. He tries to create the impression that it is not his place to comment on the serious issues of the day as he seeks (and fails in my opinion) to mould himself as an elderly statesman, the conscience of Wales. It is due to this perception that he has of himself that he believes that he can always take the role of joker, and 'one of the boys' - on any occasion. Someone should remind him that he is (until May) the First Minister, and that making ill thought out comments reflects badly on our Nation. If he wants to be a joker so much, perhaps he could channel his energies more effectively by making a few humorous comments about his fellow Labour cabinet members in the Bay....the ideas for which are endless without a doubt.