SMOKES & DAGGERS
A mischievous mix of political asides with JOHN DRENNAN
■ A RARE moment of Glasnost between Fine Gael and Sinn Féin was witnessed in the Dáil corridors where a Sinn Féin TD wished FG MEP candidate Nina Carberry the best in her campaign. Of course, we can’t name them. As it’s not clear the wishes were HQ-approved.
■ EAMON RYAN found himself in quite the embarrassing situation after he had to change the response to a Dáil question that said he was responsible for the decision to oppose a group of Swiss senior citizens in a climate action case. The advice had, Mr Ryan said, actually come from Attorney General Rossa Fanning. Social Democrats marker Jennifer Whitmore, who had asked the PQ, observed, ‘It seems strange that the minister’s retinue of 10 state-of-the-art advisers didn’t manage to identify the error’.
■ THE new Taoiseach is making strides to ‘reconnect’ Fine Gael with farmers. Those in the know say he’s doing well when he talks about things like ‘rain/ the weather’ and ‘money in your pockets’. But he falls down when he [correctly] pronounces Gowran Park… Gow-ran Park. Our source said: ‘He’s not calling it Goran like we call it.’
■ EVEN the most cynical political correspondents had to admit they were impressed by the pledge of Simon Harris on Fine Gael’s website to build 250,000 homes between 2025 and 2023. Brings a new meaning to the term ‘retrospective planning permission’!
■ LEO VARADKAR was seen wandering the corridors of Leinster House struggling to use his security pass to gain access to parts of the building. As one door remained resolutely shut, he was heard say to his aide, ‘This one is supposed to work’.