AN EX-AG AND A SEA OF TROUBLES
VARADKAR’S Cabinet selection difficulties were kindergarten stuff compared to the trouble he was landed in with the former attorney general Máire Whelan. Surely the Taoiseach must have known that a scenario where a Court of Appeal vacancy had not been filled since last March and where the former AG sat in at the meeting that selected her would not read well. The subsequent claims about three High Court judges, the serendipitous Stepaside Garda Station announcement that diverted Mr Ross and the speed of the early morning deed were equally unattractive. Mr Varadkar had a chance to challenge all of this. Instead, he adopted his default position of being a spectator and critic. VERDICT
This was an abject performance that left Varadkar open to the claim that new politics under Leo is similar to Enda’s new politics. 3/10