SMOKES & DAGGERS

A mischievous mix of (mostly) news

THE Fine Gael national executive will have an interesting meeting next week. Enda may be going nowhere fast but item one on the executive’s agenda will consist of organising the details of the succession race: times, dates, hustings, etc. It was too much for one Enda supporter, who complained: ‘The poor man, he hasn’t even got one leg in the coffin and already they’re organising the funeral ceremony.’ YOU know the director general of RTÉ is having a rough week when even the senators are laughing. This was the unfortunate situation Dee Forbes found herself in when the normally pleasant Kevin Humphreys of Labour noted that she described the 2016 election as unforeseen when talking about expenses incurred by the state broadcaster last year. Mr Humphrey’s tartly observed: ‘It is my understanding general elections take place every five years.’ SUPER-JUNIOR minister Finian McGrath was apparently a dab hand on the guitar in a charity gig in Edinburgh last week. It was in aid of a homeless charity run by two Irish nuns, and proceeds reached £6,000. Finian said it was a success ‘despite my singing’. THE Taoiseach was in Rome yesterday, but that didn’t stop him commenting on a burning issue. Enda declared that the leg-breaking tackle on Ireland soccer captain Seamus Coleman on Friday night was ‘horrific’. Now watch out for him declaring that he can’t leave office until Coleman, left, is back on his feet…