Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

Like the ill-fated Captain Bligh, whose ill temper he certainly displayed last week, the Taoiseach might find himself adrift.

As for his partners in Government, the political dysfunctionals — not our description but that of their friends, the party trustees — the digging match between the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Tánaiste would do justice to two junior GAA teams down the country who have been at each other's throats for years trying to stave off relegation. It is a good job the two casualties were only bruised egos; imagine if the two of them finished up in an accident and emergency unit with only one trolley available. The Taoiseach would need more than one of Deputy Kenny's wet rooms to cope with that situation. Is it any wonder Deputy O'Donnell has a look of post-traumatic stress about her today and that the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, does not know whether to be happy or sad, such is the disarray? The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, meanwhile, has taken to doing police duty in City Hall, policing everywhere but the streets of Dublin and elsewhere.

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