SMOKES & DAGGERS
A mischievous mix of political asides
DURING a warm tribute to the late John Bruton in the Seanad this week, Senator Michael McDowell – while recalling a turbulent series of pre-Coalition negotiations in the 1990s – described a meeting between the Progressive Democrats and Labour. ‘I remember Ruairí Quinn smoking a large Havana cigar and dismissing us as people who were not going to be allowed into government’. Close but no cigar, Ruairí.
AS ministers bravely journey from America to Brazil to Japan to make the great sacrifice of representing Ireland during St Patrick’s week, one deputy has realised the lower orders will benefit also. ‘We will only be sitting for six days next month. It will almost be like being a senator.’
WRAPPING up the EU selection convention for Midlands North-West last week, FF’s director of elections, Darragh O’Brien, noted with a slightly desperate enthusiasm: ‘FF already have great MEPs like Billy Kelleher and eh, em, eh...’ Eventually he was reminded that the FF MEP for his own Dublin constituency was Barry Andrews. A true Joe
Biden moment!
RECENTLY, after leaving an Agriculture Committee meeting for an hour, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue asked the members if he had missed anything. A grinning FG Senator Tim Lombard, who had taken over from Jackie Cahill as chair, informed the minister: ‘Well, you have a new chair, two people have been evicted from Love Island and Liverpool have gone 4-1 up in the soccer. Other than that, though it’s been quiet’.
SPECULATION is growing that rural kingpin Michael Fitzmaurice from Roscommon is considering a run for Europe to challenge Luke Ming Flanagan, who made his breakthrough on the issue of turf-cutting. Making it an actual turf war.