Imagine this, Enda Kenny taking after Nigel Farage taking after Eminem. It’s certainly an interesting image. Picture this: Enda standing proudly at the government building’s entrance on Wednesday, beaming from ear to ear. “Guess who’s back?” he would say, his voice full of amusement, “Back again.”
He would then proceed, climbing those well-worn stairs to the starting point of the ministerial hall.
“Guess who’s back? Back again.”
Cheerfulness and high fives would accompany him down the hallway until he reaches the Taoiseach suite.
“Guess who’s back? Back again. Darlings!”
Rummour has it that his return to his old office this week, for a visit to the young man he once agreed to represent as Taoiseach in 2011, was quite the celebration. This is also the same Simon Harris that he gave his inaugural State job to before eventually promoting him to the health minister role.
Allegedly, he was wholeheartedly embraced as he made his way through the corridor and into Simon’s office, reliving the past in various rooms along the way. He remembered the names of all the security lads and had a story for each one.
A few weeks back, during the election campaign in Castlebar, the duo had a run-in. Before Burkes came along and caused an uproar, Simon had extended an invitation to Enda for a meeting in Dublin.
The details of their conversation remain undisclosed, except it was ostensibly related to politics and the ex-taoiseach gave his successor some pointers about the position.
To Enda’s surprise, the office looked almost as he had left it, except for the removal of Michael Collins’ portrait above the fireplace.
Simon explained that the portrait was relocated due to the taoiseach rotating agreement with Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin. Now, Collins and Éamon de Valera portraits are arranged on either side of the cozy fireplace, separated by a neutral, gilded mirror and a painting of St Brigid on a distant wall for the Greens’ leader.
The meeting went on for a good hour, and there’s little doubt that the general election was among the main discussion points.
What about a comeback for the storied Kate O’Connell?
Rewind over ten years and Dublin Bay South, Garret FitzGerald’s well-known Blueshirt stronghold, was represented by two Fine Gael TDs: Lucinda Creighton and Eoghan Murphy.
Lucinda departed in a state of acute indignation over issues regarding abortion policies while Murphy chose to exit when he found out he was not given a Cabinet position by Leo Varadkar.
Enter stage Kate O’Connell, who filled Lucinda’s vacated position in 2016. However, her slight towards Leo and his “choirboys” led to her losing the seat by a hair in 2020. Murphy also took his leave a year after and during the following byelection, James Geoghegan, a staunch conservative barrister, was defeated by Labour’s Ivana Bacik.
Fine Gael is eagerly trying to reassert its influence in the constituency. Geoghegan, who secured the position of Lord Mayor of Dublin on Friday, is already set to take part in the upcoming election. However, the question of who will be his running companion remains unanswered.
Will it be Emma Blain, who won in the locals alongside him (the duo secured 35 per cent of the votes in the Pembroke ward) or will the political party reinstate the confrontational Kate?
Emma has a track record of being a successful campaigner without causing any friction with her running partner. Her supporters are promoting a Geoghegan/Blain pairing as a robust and united team that is likely to guarantee one seat and potentially grab a second.
However, a Geoghegan/O’Connell pairing seems like a much more appealing idea, given the inevitable entertainment ensuing from the expected clash. Kate’s vivid recounting in 2021 of how some members saw her as an outsider from the countryside was not necessarily well-received by the local Fine Gael organisation, with one particularly haughty D4 member even bringing a piece of turf to an event as a sign of derision.
Kate reported to RTÉ that their sentiment was, “We dislike your style… You are unwelcome, unfit and perhaps not up to standard.”
But what will the Mount Street power players decide is best for the party? The head office is expected to announce their decision soon. The choice between joining hands with Emma or Kate leaves James in a state of anticipation for the next few weeks – a feeling undoubtedly shared by all parties involved.
Neale Richmond, Minister of State responsible for financial services, is bound to be apprehensive should the popular pharmacist, warmly welcomed by Simon Harris at the Fine Gael ardfheis early this year, be chosen to compete in his recently expanded Dublin Rathdown constituency of four seats. This comes following Josepha Madigan’s declaration that she will not be seeking re-election, which created a vacancy. In a surprising twist, many speculate that Neale may be joined on the ballot by Cllr Maeve O’Connell, the spouse of Dublin West TD Colm Brophy, instead of the expected candidate.
In the Green Party, Senator Pippa Hackett is gathering support for her leadership bid. Boosting her campaign is her impressive portfolio in the Department of Agriculture where she serves as the Minister of State in charge of land use and biodiversity. Advocates commend her uncompromising approach, attributing the increase in the country’s organic farmers from 1,600 to 5,000 to her efforts. Under her watch, she fought relentlessly during the 2021 CAP negotiations, ensuring farmers contribute towards environment protection to receive European funding.
However, not everyone is a fan, notably Rural Independent/Independent Ireland TD Michael Collins. The TD from Skibbereen, once identified as an organic farmer, famously clashed with Hackett in the Dáil last year when she referred to him as such, which led to the House being adjourned twice. In the ensuing chaos, Collins, supported by Michael Healy-Rae, accused the Biodiversity Minister of spreading falsehoods, demanding that his farming status be correctly recorded in the Dáil. These events were later described by the Offaly-based senator as “antics”, recalling how Danny Healy-Rae had once questioned her credentials as a minister.
“Often, I face a deeply personal backlash in the parliament, which is fairly distasteful. I won’t let a bunch of men silence me. I am committed to standing up for farmers, the environment, biodiversity, and the countryside in Ireland.
This evening’s polarising antics may earn the chaps some approval, but it does nothing to benefit our farmers.
Although I am described as an “unconventional Green”, it hasn’t always appeared that way. During the 2020 protest by 500 irate Bord na Móna workers against the premature shutdown of the ESB’s peat-powered Shannonbridge facility, I made a critical misstep.
Union bosses and employees voiced their anxieties about “pension instability” and the closure’s financial ramifications on the area. Inspiring speeches were given by local TDs.
AgriLand claimed that a strong negative response from the crowd was received by Senator Hackett after she likened the local bogs to a nurturer.
“I like to visualise the peatlands in this area as something akin to a mother,” she remarked to the shocked demonstrators. “She has raised us, fed us, heated our homes, educated us; and she has now reached an inevitable position in her lifecycle.
“She has arrived at a point of retirement; and we must care for her. If we continue to look after her, she will look after us,” she expressed to the anxious workers worried about their future pensions.
However, her comparison was met with cries such as “What about us? What about the labourers? What about the midland residents? You’re lost in your green dream world.”
A courageous woman indeed.
The Green Party had a significant week, marked by the stepping down of leader Eamon Ryan, who spoke about the vitriol targeted at politicians on social media, citing a “particularly cruel remark about my recently deceased father”. This happened just in time for a new leader to take over before the upcoming general election. On Thursday night, following his Tuesday resignation, he opened an exhibition showcasing his late father’s artwork at the Taylor Gallery.”
Bob Ryan’s final series of art, “A Legacy of Landscapes”, whose proceeds from the exhibition will be channelled towards supporting art therapy at Open Spectrum, an autism charity. Ryan passed away in 2017.
In an unexpectedly surprising progression, Dan Boyle, who had been a TD, senator and party chair, was chosen the Lord Mayor of Cork on a Friday night, marking a debut in this position both for him and for the Green Party in the city. Boyle’s accession was due to a collaboration between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour, and the Green Party.
Senator Róisín Garvey began attracting attention within the Green Party. The Clare resident, known for her candid nature and refreshing directness, made her presence known during several appearances on various news programmes, passionately defending her party against criticism that it was out of touch with rural Ireland’s issues.
Garvey held her own against the usually calm Michael Healy-Rae on RTÉ’s Prime Time, fervently contesting him, despite accusations of inciting a shouting match. Garvey countered, proving that the Healy-Raes were taking credit for Green Party initiatives.
Garvey, a native of Clare with deep rural roots, openly challenged Healy-Rae’s dismissal of 400 new bus provisions, pointing out his leaflet claiming credit for it. She implied that her connection to rural Ireland is as real as his, only she is focused on current matters unlike Healy-Rae whose “head is buried in the sand”.
Garvey’s performance has so impressed many, leading some to suggest she should be considered for party leadership. As a social media user commented, “I haven’t seen Clare triumph over Kerry in this way since the Munster football final in 1992”.