Many a slip... and FG have made a fair few

THE ‘pathway to a possible (Brexit) deal’ mooted by the Taoiseach and the British prime minister is, I presume, paved with the same good intentions as the road to hell. But the Boris and Leo ‘bromance’ has smitten advisors in Dublin and London – teams long inured to disappointment dared to dream again in The Wirral last Thursday.

A sober-sounding Taoiseach reminded potential revellers that there is ‘many a slip twixt cup and lip’ but his inner politician was clearly thrilled by the possibilities.

Good news for Leo Varadkar on October 31 would give a green light for an early election and the best chance for a Fine Gael three-in-a-row victory.

The toing and froing will become even more hectic over coming days with talk of a referendum in Northern Ireland and dropping the DUP veto.

And nothing feeds speculation and builds expectations more than official silences in The Tunnel. The leaders locked in secret talks away from the public glare will buy time and space as the clock ticks down to Halloween.

YET both sides have taken out insurance not to be blamed for the failure of the Brexit negotiations. As much time and effort is being spent avoiding any culpability for a failed Brexit than devising a mutually acceptable agreement. The best brains that taxpayers’ money can buy in Dublin are finding ways of shuffling blame for a dud Brexit away from Leo Varadkar.

Other message-managers in the government were busy last week fine-tuning the subliminal tone of the Budget to suit an early election.

The Budget was a mea culpa for Fine Gael’s wanton overspending in government and promised a firm purpose of amendment restoring their reputation for financial prudence.

It should have been a gung-ho pre-election package: tax cuts (as promised) to middle-income earners – payback for their sacrifices, reassurance that the economy is in safe hands.

Leo Varadkar will do anything to avoid the by-elections that arose from the European elections in May. That means four by-elections and a funeral for Fine Gael – they will find it difficult to win any of them.

Opinion polls in recent months have shown Fine Gael’s popularity in inevitable decline while Fianna Fáil has drawn level and even overtaken them.

Delivering a negotiated Brexit before Christmas would be the highlight of the Taoiseach’s career and the best possible boost for his hopes of re-election.

But even an epic international triumph like delivering a Brexit deal for Ireland would not ensure reelection to government for Fine Gael.

The same party has been in government for more than eight years and the novelty of the new Taoiseach has faded. The public gets irritated by over-familiar ministers constantly making excuses on radio and television.

They may run the Government but Fine Gael cannot hide from their record – especially on health, housing, the rollout of broadband. And who can forget the scandal of Irish Water?

Rents as expensive as London and New York and record levels of homelessness while promises pile up on promises and the housing crisis deepens.

We increase spending on health every year yet the service still lags behind the standards attained in comparable economies.

THE cost of building of the National Children’s Hospital was an avoidable calamity. Likewise the failure to recruit consultants, doctors, nurses and other medical professionals for the health service. A rollout of free GP child care does not dim the memory of the cervical screening debacle and the scandal of the minister’s impulsive offer of free-testing.

The latest law and order scandal of the authorities allegedly paying protection money to career criminals follows the lawlessness on the border where business managers are terrorised and tortured.

The list of Government’s failures lengthens as the days shorten in the run up to Christmas and the prospect of an election within months.

Maybe Varadkar, standing on the shoulders of the EU, can secure a deal with Boris Johnson and fight an election as an international statesman.

But even that CV would be a hard sell when measured against his Government’s dismal economic and fiscal record.