‘He’s a gauche diplomat’
Fianna Fáil has criticised the Taoiseach for overselling his diplomatic achievements. Fianna Fáil’s foreign affairs spokesman, niall Collins, attacked Mr Varadkar for speaking out too soon in celebration once the British cabinet agreed to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Mr Collins told the irish Mail on Sunday: ‘The conduct of foreign diplomacy has been gauche; sometimes a closed mouth would have been far better. ’The Taoiseach, as we saw last week, is far too quick on the Twitter trigger to claim victories where none exist. This has been a feature of Fine Gael’s conduct of foreign affairs since Enda’s infamous “seismic victory” on bank debt, which disappeared once the cameras were shut off.’ Mr Collins added: ‘When one looks at the ongoing chaos within Brexit and the north, there is much to be circumspect about and little to celebrate.’
Mr Collins was echoing the increasingly sharp position taken by party leader Micheál Martin on Brexit.
One senior Fianna Fáil source warned: ‘The peace process is in a state of absolute dereliction after seven years of Fine Gael in office. i would not be running around kissing the political jersey if i were leo.’
Meanwhile, the gap between the two parties closed slightly last night, with a Sunday Times Behaviour and attitudes poll showing Fine Gael down one point to 30% and no change for Fianna Fáil at 27%.
The only other significant change was a four-point gain for Sinn Féin, rising to 23%.