What a sorry spectacle the Government made of itself at the weekend. Mr Cowen quit his party and the Greens quit Government. They quit not for the recession, not for the 450,000 on the dole and not for the banking collapse. Rather they quit because the internal political pressure within their own parties grew too great. Nice to see where their priorities lie.
Our attention turns now to the Finance Bill and the hope that all party agreement can be reached for its speedy and orderly passage through the Oireachtas and a dissolution by Friday. If the Government don’t agree to the timetable as set out by Michael Noonan and Enda Kenny on Saturday evening, it looks like the Government will fall anyway and the new Government will have to pass the legislation itself.
None of this is good for the country. Europe is looking at us with a
mixture of pity and disbelief. The Financial Times today describes an
‘Irish meltdown’. I feel the same for the Greens and the loyal Fianna Fail foot soldiers who have been so disregarded. Let’s hope the coming election campaign can see us move on from the political chess game we have witnessed and get down to talking about how to make Ireland better.