Fine Gael lays into the ‘latte socialists’ and ‘Willie O’Dea wine’ at party dinner

STILL hungover from the row over Gerry Adams’ €30 bottles of wine, our political leaders have moved on to fighting over the cost of coffee.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has raised the ire of left-wing parties after attacking their attempts to frame the Budget as ‘the cup of coffee Budget’.

The description was first used by Labour’s Alan Kelly on Budget Day when it became clear that average workers would get about €5 a week back in 2018 through tax cuts.

Speaking at a private Fine Gael event over the weekend, Mr Varadkar joked: “I’d advise these latte socialists to think again about where they buy their coffee.

“Because if you can’t be trusted to spend your own money carefully, how can you be trusted with other people’s? ”

In response, Mr Kelly claimed the statement was a sign the Budget “has fallen flat with the public, leaving a bitter taste in the Taoiseach’s mouth as he lashed out at his failure to inspire the public”.

At the same dinner in the Clayton Hotel in Ballsbridge, Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty took aim at Mr Adams and Fianna Fáil’s Willie O’Dea. She told the Fine Gael faithful that rather than the Sinn Féin leader’s €30 bottles of wine, she prefers “Willie O’Dea wine”.

“Very light, delicate... one might say, sensitive,” she said.

Her comments were a reference to Mr O’Dea’s demand that she apologise for claiming Fianna Fáil was not to be trusted. But rather than express any regrets for her comments, Ms Doherty said: “After a few glasses of Willie O’Dea wine, you’d remember stuff that never happened, and forget the stuff that did.”