Isnât this the main problem since this government came in, doesnât help with one party of the government looking to get sly digs in on another party in the government and the third party are tucked up in bed asleep.
Some people are thinking along those lines but I donât think theyâd be capable of pulling it off. Too many moving parts and too many dumb people involved for it to work. Maybe Varadkar would be devious enough but not the bumbling FF gombeens. I thought the rush of journalists breaking the story on Sunday night were portraying genuine shock and fury from the government side (even if the cabinet did leak it, not NPHET).
It now seems this morning that FF want to distance themselves from the personal and hard hitting nature of Varadkarâs NPHET attack. Michael McGrath had some very conciliatory remarks on radio earlier and The Examiner are reporting that they want to build bridges etc.
Of course, SF are now trying to opportunistically position themselves as NPHETâs allies so weâll revert back to the usual fare at Leaderâs Questions later. Mary Louâs outrage followed by Mick Martinâs riposte that you werenât worried about public health at Bobby Storeyâs funeral.
Stephen Donnelly apparently had some good lines in the B team press conference that was held at 10pm alongside Paschal Donohoe and Eamon Ryan, while Varadkar was simultaneously getting stuck into NPHET on the telly.
When asked whoâd be at fault now if the health service is overwhelmed after the government rejected NPHETâs advice, he replied that coronavirus would be at fault.
The optics of Dr Holohan being due to come back to work on Monday but instead convening a meeting on a Sunday didnât sit well with me. Real alpha male stuff. There isnât a place in hell hot enough for people who convene a meeting at the weekend when they could just as easily have had it at 8 on a Monday morning.
NPHET, the experts, wanted to institute harsher restrictions in the whole country that even seen in cities across Europe. Madrid, which is riddled, has only set a travel restriction locally, and has a curfew for bars and restaurants. We already have more severe restrictions than that in small rural villages here and it still wasnât enough for NPHET. NPHET must know something their counterparts in literally every other European country dont.
Iâm sorry if NPHET and Tony Holohanâs feelings are hurt but their suggestion was completely unworkable and Leo (whatever his ultimate motives were) was right to call them on it