Coveney should know better on Dáil matters

THERE is nothing so dangerous as a good intention spinning out of control and colliding with a hard fact. The ricochet can cause considerable collateral damage, as Tánaiste Simon Coveney has just discovered. The second most senior member of Government really should have known better. His suggestion to include a two-thirds Dáil majority provision in any future abortion legislation may have sounded like a good idea at the time.

After all, it would allay fears that the Dáil can’t be trusted and might just reassure troubled voters that there will be no change by stealth should repeal be carried.

The only trouble is that such a move would be unconstitutional, according to legal experts.

It would therefore require a referendum and given the state of complexity and confusion that already pervades, such a step would be extremely impolitic.

Fianna Fáil’s Thomas Byrne was first out of the traps to insist Mr Coveney should be “hammered for basic lack of knowledge”. The fact Mr Coveney actually discussed introducing such a law with Health Minister Simon Harris, one which has the potential to jeopardise the whole case the Government has been trying to present, looks shambolic. One might have thought Mr Coveney would have considered seeking the advice of the Attorney General for his so-called legislative lock. He has been around long enough to understand you should never interfere with a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place.