EVERY WEEK, TheJournal.ie casts its eye over events inside and outside Leinster House that have got people talking.
As the saying goes: ‘You win some, you lose some.’
So here are our political winners and losers from the past seven days:
1. John Deasy and Seán Conlan
These two Fine Gael backbenchers have put on record their unhappiness with the John McNulty state board appointment fiasco and aired their broader grievances with the way their party is operating right now. It’s disappointing that so many of their colleagues, who share their views privately, aren’t prepared to do the same for fear of reprisal.
2. Lucinda Creighton
Having perhaps felt unwanted when she joined the Technical Group last week, the former Fine Gael minister made friends with her new colleagues during the week after an ‘amicable’ meeting at Leinster House.
3. Michael D Higgins
The President continues to speak his mind on matters of the day unlike many of his predecessors. He had lots to say about homelessness this week, describing it is a “profound violation of human rights”.
4. Seán Barrett
The Ceann Comhairle made it his personal project to get the new Oireachtas TV channel up and running and its launch this week brought with it a pledge to “bring the business of our national parliament closer to the citizens we serve”. But what will the citizens make of it all we wonder?
1. Enda Kenny and Fine Gael
No prizes for guessing why the Taoiseach and his party make our losers category this week as the botched handling of John McNulty’s nomination to a state board and then to be the party’s candidate for the Seanad continues to have repercussions this weekend.
2. Heather Humphreys
The new Arts Minister is a loser all on her own after a dreadful performance in the Seanad on Tuesday as she attempted to defend the McNulty appointment to the board of IMMA. She then failed to answer or even address any of the pertinent questions about the affair in a disastrous doorstep interview with the media on Thursday.
3. Ed Miliband
Forgetting your lines in one of the most important speeches of your political life as you try to convince an unimpressed public that you can be Prime Minister? Oh Ed.
4. Leo Varadkar
It almost fell under the radar this week with all the shenanigans in the Seanad but the Health Minister had to contend with a huge rise in the number of people on hospital waiting lists. A reminder of the challenge facing the minister.
Alan Shatter
The former justice minister is back in this category for a second week running after his performance on the Late Late Show on Friday night. What did you make of it and more importantly what does it make him this week?
We can’t decide on this one. So what do you think? Is Alan Shatter a winner or a loser?
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