The Dail adjourned for its three- month recess yesterday amid a level of sweetness and light that would suggest a national government is now a possibility.
There was bonhomie and humour as hostilities were suspended. There was even a remarkable cross-party consensus between the Socialist Party and what its sole deputy, Mr Joe Higgins, who rep- resents Dublin West, would regard as the conservative, establishment parties. The issue was the welfare of the Leinster House staff who have had to cope with late sittings, some- times stretching beyond midnight, in recent weeks, as the legislative decks were cleared.
Mr Higgins said that the Taoiseach should ensure there were short breaks during Dail sit- tings, as some of the staff found themselves under immense pressure. Mr Ahern said that every- body would agree with that. The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, also agreed. The Taoiseach and the Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, spoke, somewhat self-consciously and very earnestly, about the committee meetings in July and September, as deputies turned their eyes on the press gallery to make the point that they were not off on their holidays just yet.
The committees will meet, but there will be no plenary session of the Dail again until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30th. Mr Pat Rabbitte (DL, Dublin South West) was magnanimous, remarking: "It goes without saying that we will all be doing what we can to help the Government struggle on over the summer."
And then he sounded a note of caution. "Should the worst happen, I would like to ask the Taoiseach if the redrawing of constituencies has been signed into law? Deputy Jim Mitchell and myself would like to know where we stand. Deputy Mitchell said he was thinking about retiring again yesterday. Every time he does that, we are within about six months of a general election."
The Taoiseach thanked Mr Rabbitte for his concern for the Government, adding, in a reference to the DL-Labour talks: "I do hope you do not change the name of your party once again."
Mr Higgins expressed concern for the viewers of the RTE programme, Oireachtas Report. "In proposing a three-month break for the plenary sessions of the Dail, has the Taoiseach any concern at all for Deputy Rabbitte's drunks and insomniacs who will surely be devastated by such a long-time withdrawal?"