SMOKES & DAGGERS
A mischievous mix of political asides with JOHN DRENNAN
AMID exchanges about the minimum wage at Leaders’ Questions this week, Simon Harris chided Socialist TD Bríd Smith: ‘Every time you speak it is authoritative and every time I speak you try to degrade it’. Smith rejoined: ‘That is because I am an authoritative-type person.’ Ouch!
INDICATIONS are that the Civil War parties will end up in a tussle for the last European seat in
Dublin.
And speculation in
Fine Gael is that posh southside blueshirts may save
Fianna
Fáil’s Barry Andrews… at the expense of FG. As one insider said: ‘We have to have a dynasty to vote for, or at least a barrister, and Regina Doherty is a little too proletarian.’
THE enthusiasm of the Harris regime has come as a bit of a shock to some veterans of the Fine Gael parliamentary party. One told Smokes: ‘I recently got an email at 5.58am. I mean fair play for the enthusiasm but it’s not the Russian front we are on here.’
CORK councillor Danny Collins’ late decision to join Independent Ireland, the party led by his brother Michael, has led to excited speculation the party may go for two seats in the competitive constituency home of Social Democrat leader Holly Cairns. One source said: ‘If the lads were to divide the vote they could win two and take out Holly. Michael and Danny II: sure, they would be just like the Healy-Raes.’
IRELAND First made an embarrassing error on its election literature when the party referred to ‘Padraig Pearce’, right, instead of ‘Pádraic Pearse’. For what died the sons of Róisín? Was it for this?