SMOKES & DAGGERS
A mischievous mix of (mostly) news
HE WALKS amongst us! Sources in the north inner city say that Taoiseach Enda Kenny has made at least two private, unpublicised visits to the area. It has gone down well with the residents of Sherriff Street and other areas to see the top man out shaking hands without any reporters or photographers in sight. JUNIOR Minister Finian McGrath was welcoming his newest and youngest supporter, his grandson Cillian, pictured. He was born on Friday to parents Caoimhe and Niall. MICHEÁL Martin was in the Dáil chamber alongside his colleague Michael McGrath last Thursday between proceedings. The Fianna Fáil leader pointed out to his colleagues that the latest poll shows a big boost in Dublin. To stifled laughter, Mr McGrath said it might be down to a ‘Bertie Bounce’. That’s the phenomenon from the pre-crash years where Mr Ahern’s popularity was deemed to give FF an electoral boost. Mr Martin managed a smile. LABOUR Party types were in ebullient mood after throngs of journalists attended the launch of ex-minister for water Alan Kelly’s craft beer Bill. Of course, the high attendance rate had nothing to do with the gallons of free craft beer on offer. As hordes gathered around Kelly (apparently Brendan Howlin attended too but nobody noticed him) a jubilant apparatchik said: ‘Whatever you criticise us for, at least it will never be said that Labour couldn’t organise a p***-up in a brewery.’ GOVERNMENT is always a diverse affair, but Arts Minister Heather Humphreys must surely have never expected to be quizzed over whether a group of magnolia trees would be planted on ‘the west corner of the Leinster House lawn to complete the garden composition as promised in 2014’. Before the cries of ‘more broken promises’ could go up, she said that although she had no responsibility for this issue, she had been ‘informed that a planting of trees (a cluster of three) will take place shortly, provided purchase and transport goes to schedule’. And provided, of course, that John Halligan doesn’t rebel on the issue.