SMOKES & DAGGERS

A mischievous mix of (mostly) news

FINE Gael’s civil war rages on. Smokes hears that at a recent parliamentary party meeting, Paudie Coffey lambasted Noel Rock, right, for engaging in self-indulgent solo runs. He warned that if Rock’s carry-on continued, Fine Gael TDs would be ‘picked off one by one’ by the electorate like Labour TDs were last year. Is that the same Paudie Coffey who recently wrote a 900-word diatribe about the failure of his colleague John Deasy to adequately support the campaign for a cath lab for Waterford, a diatribe that included a few uncomplimentary references to Simon Harris?

NOBODY loves junior minister Dara Murphy, it seems. The Coveney camp claims he’s working for Leo Varadkar, while Team Varadkar say he’s working for Coveney. Perhaps Frances Fitzgerald could enlist him. It would at least bring her parliamentary party support up to one TD.