Airsick Taoiseach might be relieved to come in to land

WHEN he was forced to pull out of the St Patrick’s Day festivities in the White House after a positive PCR test, Micheál Martin presumably hoped his bad luck was over.

After all, the year before he was robbed of being the toast of Washington at the annual shamrock handover session and Irish-American love-in – a highlight of all Irish leader’s political lives, no matter how much they may protest to the contrary – due to Covid. But trouble they say comes in threes and, before St Patrick’s Day, it appears the Taoiseach came a cropper once again when he was left stranded on the airstrip in Brussels after the Government jet broke down.

If ever there was a taoiseach deprived of the perks of his lofty position, it must be Michael Martin whose departure from Brussels, where he was attending an emergency meeting of EU leaders about the war in Ukraine, was delayed for several hours waiting for a replacement aircraft to pick him up.

As his fellow leaders took off on schedule, the Taoiseach must have wondered what curse had befallen him to make him suffer the inconvenience of the Government’s ageing Learjet being out of commission for repairs, its replacement

Air Corps aircraft then going out of service at the last minute and then a long delay for its replacement.

Even allowing for the volatility of political life, Mr Martin has had a particularly turbulent time in office.

When he hands over power to Leo Varadkar later this year, he will be the shortest-serving taoiseach in history – and possibly the most relieved.