menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

BOB WAKEHAM: What happened to Danny Williams' promise to 'shut up and go away'?

7 0
24.11.2025

Former premier Danny Williams once said former premiers should keep quiet, but he isn't following that when it comes to Churchill Falls

Aw, those past words that can return with an ability to haunt, especially if you’ve served time as a loquacious, sometimes loose cannon politician who never met a microphone he did not wish to embrace.

Subscribe now to access this story and more:

Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.

Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.

Case in point: Danny Williams who, at the height of his massive popularity, provided blunt suggestions as to how ex-premiers should conduct themselves once they’ve reentered the world of the private citizen.

As a matter of fact, Williams whose many devotees believed back in the day that he was blessed with papal-like infallibility even invoked his own Higher Power in promising to keep his trap shut about the policies and actions of any of his successors.

Good Lord, so to speak, St. Daniel may have even committed a sin probably not a mortal sin, a grievous offense against the law of God — but maybe a venial sin, a less grievous offense against the law of God (among the strange and inexplicable lessons those poor souls indoctrinated with the Catholic catechism, including me, might recall).

But, in any case, there may have been a transgression of sorts, worthy of a trip to the public opinion confessional.

Still with me?

Williams’ History 101: There was absolutely nothing subtle (when was there anything subtle about Williams?) when he reacted back in the day to the opinion expressed by former premier Brian Peckford that it was time for Williams to place more emphasis on revitalizing the fishing industry, given that so much effort had been given to the offshore oil battles.

Well, it’s almost laughable, if it wasn’t so damn hypocritical, to dig out, as I did the other day, and read how Williams a present-day........

© PNI Atlantic news