Our incoming Taoiseach is a bit like the Christmas present no-one wanted but unfortunately, unlike a bottle of dud wine, we can’t return him or pass him on.
Leo Varadkar will become Taoiseach again on December 17 even if it’s not what the country wants or needs right now.
He becomes prime minister not because he was elected but as part of a backroom deal done with Micheal Martin, who was so desperate for the post he agreed to what amounted to a timeshare agreement for the office.
The only consolation for the electorate is that turkeys can’t be accused of voting for a Christmas Taoiseach.
True to form, Tory Boy has laid down a marker indicating that he intends to go on as before by blaming Sinn Fein for the housing and health crisis brought about by Fine Gael and Fianna Fail policies over the last decade.
The Christmas Taoiseach claimed it will take 10 years to “clean up the mess” if Mary Lou McDonald’s party gets into government, seemingly forgetting he was standing waste-high in the mess created by his party and Fianna Fail over the last century.
This was more than a bit rich coming from the leader of a party which during its decade in power turned a massive oversupply of housing into the biggest housing shortage in the country’s history.
Leo Varadkar’s almost obsessive fixation with Sinn Fein, when he should be addressing issues such as the housing and health crises, is an indication of how much his party fears their recent resurgence.
On the day it was revealed that the number of houses needed in the country has been drastically underestimated by the Government the incoming Taoiseach was more concerned about matters closer to home – clinging on to power.
In a podcast he raised the prospect of a vote transfer pact between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail in the run up to the next general election even though it’s well over two years away.
In the week where the HSE warned patients can expect to be stuck on trolleys for 24 hours in the country’s hospital emergency departments, the Tanaiste was fretting about Sinn Fein winning an election in 24 months time.
The Fine Gael leader claimed his party and Fianna Fail could have won more seats if their supporters transferred their votes between the parties when the country last went to the polls.
Try telling that to the young people who are leaving the country because they will never be able to afford a home or the parents of autistic children who have to wait years before they get an assessment.
When political power appears to be Leo Varadkar’s main priority it is hardly surprising that the Shinners are by far the largest party in the State.
His attack on Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall in the Dail yesterday when he called her a “hypocrite” will do little to enhance Leo Varadkar’s popularity or that of his party with voters.
He later withdrew the remark after being asked to do so by Leas Cheann Comhairle Catherine Connolly.
The spat came when Ms Shortall questioned the powers given to Standards in Public Office after that body announced it will not be investigating the Tanaiste over the leaking of a confidential document to a friend.
But true to form the Tanaiste’s fixation with Sinn Fein resurfaced although that party had nothing to do with Deputy Shortall’s line of questioning.
He asked: “Does that view extend to Sinn Fein? If it is the case that any Sinn Fein politician is under investigation by a public body when the next election comes, will you apply the same standard to them?”
What Leo Varadkar fails to understand is that the public are more worried about their future rather than Sinn Fein’s past and both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail will soon find that out on the doorsteps.
The reality is that, much like the Tory party across the water, their Irish equivalent Fine Gael has also lost its way and is flailing about looking for scapegoats.
Still, it is somewhat ironic that in a housing crisis that was largely brought about by Fine Gael policies, Sinn Fein is renting a lot of space in Leo Varadkar’s head.
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