SMOKES & DAGGERS

A mischievous mix of (mostly) news

LEO was clearly delighted with his love-in with Justin Trudeau, which won him international headlines. But not all foreign onlookers were swept away by the excitement. The parallels of youthful dynamism only went so far, the New York Times unkindly pointed: ‘On Monday, while Mr Trudeau looked forward to playing geopolitics at the G20 meeting, Mr Varadkar was scrambling to deal with a looming parliamentary defeat on a private bill about garbage charges.’ Was Trudeau, pictured, laughing with you or at you, Taoiseach? THE Taoiseach has abolished a clatter of cabinet sub-committees, including the once all-powerful Economic Management Committee, on the grounds that they were pointless, cluttered with too many ministers and mandarins and never achieved anything. Were Yes Minister’s Sir Humphrey around he would have explained that that was the whole point. THE new mayor of Limerick, Seán Lynch, wants to ban biscuits, cream buns and scones from the council meetings, which didn’t go down well with his colleagues. It left us thinking, if only we could get rid of such stupid bunfights by abolishing such stupid councils. RICHARD BOYD BARRETT’s London visit for the 80th birthday party of playwright Tom Stoppard reminded us of a story. As a young man, Stoppard was a reporter on a local newspaper. He applied for a job as political reporter with the Evening Standard. During the interview, he said he was interested in politics. Editor Charles Wintour followed up: ‘So perhaps you could tell me, who is the Home Secretary?’ Stoppard replied: ‘I said I was interested, not obsessed.’ LEO admonished his ministers in Cabinet for leaking too freely. Apparently the ministers promised that they would never do it again. Or so they told us afterwards, anyway. SMOKES was amused by the sight of the Sinn Féin TD Pat Buckley being chased out of the AGM of the Dáil press gallery on the grounds that he was interrupting a private meeting where no Sinn Féin TDs were allowed. A temporary return to the days of Section 31? THE revelation that Ivanka Trump, pictured, briefly sat in for her daddy during the G20 yesterday prompted political writer David Frum to outline the new US presidential line of succession: ‘President, Favourite Daughter, Favourite Daughter’s Husband, Eldest Son, Next Son, Vice President, Least Favourite Son.’