Niamh Walsh’s Manifesto

cunning, smarts and manoeuvring have amounted to the equivalent of, if you like, Johnson’s satnav to No.10.

Johnson, to his credit, showed fealty and fraternity when he refused to bow to enormous pressure from the public, media and indeed his own Tory party to sack Cummings.

But his devotion was not without a nod to his self-preservation.

He is a career politician and has long been cruising on the highway to high office.

But his trip to the top has too often seen him fail to engage his brain into gear.

He has been diverted by his many dalliances and driven head-on into controversial collisions.

Johnson is like a Ferrari with flat tyres – prestigious, powerful, aspirational, but with no air in the tyres it’s just a pointless tin can on the road to nowhere.

With Cummings fuelling his tank, Johnson has driven his way to Downing Street and with his crafty adviser has crashed through any roadblocks on delivering Brexit along with his lifelong ambition to be prime minister. Cummings, whose off-thecharts smarts, are matched only by his absolute arrogance, is the oily, greasy, unmighty but vital cog that drives the machine and is the real power propelling the pedals.

Monkeys victims in search for vaccine

LEST anyone go bananas I am in no way conflating human and animal life. I also fully understand that a vaccine needs to be found if we are to wipe out Covid-19 and preserve the lives of people.

But it sickens me that vaccine trials have begun on primates and that monkeys have been injected with the virus, resulting in their painful death.

History, it seems, has taught us nothing. Every deadly virus like Sars, ebola and Mad Cow has come after human interference and a cruelty inflicted on innocent animals.

Now monkeys are paying the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to save the human race. Their cruel deaths should have meaning and their legacy should serve as a call to cull cruelty on animals and stop their suffering once and for all.

Lark in the park was a bit OTT, Leo

AN TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar’s Phoenix Park picnic caused a bit of a pickle this week after he was pictured topless and enjoying some sunshine with his partner and two friends.

Varadkar is living in Farmleigh Lodge and was snapped by a fellow park picnicker as he enjoyed what, I would imagine, was some muchneeded downtime. The pictures soon went viral as ‘Topless Taoiseach’ and ‘Lockdown Breaker Leo’ soon made even global headlines. I am no Leo Varadkar or Fine Gael fan but credit where it’s due. I think their handling of the pandemic has been admirable. Granted there have been grave issues regarding the spread of the virus in nursing homes, but given the unprecedented and dire circumstances, I think they have done a good job.

Leo’s picnic in the park would surely have provided him a little diversion in these horrific times. And despite the outrage, he was within the 5km range. What I do have an issue with is his attire – or lack of it. It’s wholly inappropriate for a Taoiseach, who has to be held to a higher account than the masses.

As a head of state, Leo must not only act the part, he should also look the part. And in these times of a national emergency, a leader halfundressed is decidedly unsettling.

Have faith in us all following the rules

A ROW erupted this week after a priest in a church in Blackrock, Co. Dublin officiated Mass for more than a handful of people.

The priest led the socially distanced service in peaceful prayer.

During these biblical times people come to church to seek solace and hope and to pray for the dead and the living and most likely for a miracle. And I think we can all hope that their prayers are answered.

But the ‘secret service’ turned into a public brouhaha.

However, the images of the safely spaced seats showed faith should be placed in the people: we can behave responsibly and lead a somewhat normal life while still following the guidelines.

Jackie’s trailer-trash tantrum misplaced

IF ONLY the Lord himself would preserve me from tantrum-throwing ‘personalities’ with a god complex.

This week, Jackie Belanoff-Smith, the new wife of Una Healy’s exhusband Ben Foden, threw a tantrum of trailer-trash proportions.

Jackie, who has just had a baby with Ben, and whose birth she filmed and posted publicly, as you do, went on a rant and railed against what she called ‘Una fanatics’ with a social media shriek saying ‘LEAVE THE KIDS OUT OF IT.’

It seems to have conveniently slipped American native Jackie’s mind that, in the first few weeks of dating Ben, she declared she got on just swell with his kids, which came as news to Una who had been with the children full-time while Ben was wooing Jackie stateside.

Sometimes it’s not the kids that need a dummy to stop their whining.