Miriam Lord’s Week: Eoin Ó Broin rocks Pat Kenny’s boat

Christmas books are arriving thick and fast. We love the annuals. Short span of attention and all that. Beano, Dandy, Captain Underpants, Minions . . . The Blackrock College Annual 2016, admittedly a “niche” publication, is hot off the presses. It’s a lovely production.

We particularly enjoyed the News of the Past section which showcases a glittering selection of distinguished alumni. Or “Rockmen” as they like to style themselves, apparently.

Among those lauded this year are rugby players Leo Cullen and Luke Fitzgerald, golfer Paul Dunne, Ryan Tubridy’s brother Garrett, who is tournament director for next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup which takes place in Ireland, and Philip Lane, 11th governor of the Central Bank.

Happily, our disappointment was lessened by the inclusion of one of the leading lights of the class of 1990, Eoin Ó Broin. The yearbook, obviously compiled well in advance of publication, tells Eoin’s fellow Rockmen: “He’s not a TD yet, but he has been Sinn Féin’s rising star for a long time.”

The writer correctly predicts that “he is a shoo-in in Dublin Mid-West and will quickly be elevated to the party’s first [sic] bench”. Rockmen always make the senior team. Readers learn that the Cabinteely man “was a ‘mod’ for a while in his youth” and he began his involvement with republican politics when in university.

Following a spell in Belfast in his 20s, where he was elected a councillor, he returned to Dublin to become “an influential strategist for the party and the strongest advocate of staying out of coalition unless Sinn Féin is the dominant party”. When viewed in the light of his very robust interview with Newstalk’s Pat Kenny on Thursday morning, Blackrock College’s potted bio of their former pupil is very much on the button.

“Invariably polite in person, his debating style is highly partisan and he is not immune to a dig or two under the belt. Ó Broin is a polished debater who is always in command of the facts and is not shy in letting you know it.”

The Holy Ghost-schooled TD and the Christian Brothers-educated broadcaster had a vigorous exchange on the subject of water charges, with Kenny taking issue over Sinn Féin’s view that the revenue shortfall from abolishing charges can be made up by the universal social charge. He asked why the party would want to retain the USC.

Hour’s overtime

“You’re supposed to be the working man’s friend and yet you want to keep the regime where half of what you pay goes to the Revenue,” said Pat. “You work an hour’s overtime and half of it goes to Michael Noonan . . . how is that fair?”

Whereupon Eoin behaved exactly as described in his Blackrock College annual, aiming a polite but well-aimed dig below the Kenny belt. “I would imagine that I spend a lot more time with ordinary, average income earners than you do, Pat.”

The CBS boy was incensed. “Ey, ey, ey, ey, cheap shot! Cheap shot, cheap shot, cheap shot! No, come on. All my colleagues in Newstalk – they’re not high earners. I work with them every single day of the week and I know their difficulties every day,” Kenny said.

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Leo’s turn as Christmas DJ puts O’Dea in a spin

Oh look, there's Denis Naughten in the Roscommon People having his photograph taken with Santa and publishing his cute Christmas letter to Santa.

That’s miles better than his Cabinet colleague Leo Varadkar, who will be playing beige music on a late-night radio show at Christmas when everyone is either drunk or asleep. “Light Entertainment” Leo is rapidly turning into an Irish version of Boris Johnson. He’ll be doing panto next.

Fianna Fáil’s Willie O’Dea is delighted to find himself highly indignant about it all. “Leo Varadkar is a marvel,” he snarks in the press release he rushed out on hearing the shocking news. He thundered that Varadkar had turned his constitutional ministerial obligations on their head and instead “crafted a role for himself as resident chat-show panellist and a sort of celebrity political commentator, where he muses on how terrible things are and how something should be done” but he is never the one to do it.

“This has now been taken to a whole new level, as we learn he is to take up a role as some sort of stand-in late-night DJ on RTÉ. The country is suffering from truly shocking levels of deprivation and the Social Protection Minister is planning to take on a radio show.”

O’Dea is clearly overwrought by this appalling situation which in no way threatens the partnership arrangement between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael but which still allows him to roar at the Government like he was in the proper Opposition.

“If it was anyone else, it would be called out and ridiculed as an unprecedented, self-promoting absurdity,” huffs Willie, who abhors self-promotion.

The gig is for one night only. It’s frightening to imagine how Willie would react if they gave Leo a series.

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Recycling Ryan goes green

Eamon Ryan cut quite a dash around Leinster House this week in his very stylish tweed check suit. In autumnal shades of green and brown, it had a classic waistcoat, three-button jacket and tapering trousers with a turn-up.

We hear some of the more fashion-conscious TDs even approached him to ask the name of his tailor. The Green Party leader was happy to tell them: Sorenson of Patrick Street in Cork.

But he couldn’t venture much more beyond that, because the suit belonged to his grandfather who died 20 years ago. Edmund Cahill was from Macroom, but he and his wife moved to Dublin in their declining years to live with Eamon’s family.

“I had two suits belonging to him. I got married in the black one but we lost that in a house fire when it went up in smoke along with the wedding dress,” he tells us.

“I saw the other suit in the wardrobe on Tuesday – it was a cold day and so why not? Nicola Sturgeon was coming in and I thought: ‘Feck it, the Scots will probably be wearing a bit of tartan so I’ll get out the Irish tweed. It was also the day the Dáil paid tributes to the late Peter Barry, so it was nice to be wearing a suit from Cork.” Eamon reckons it was made in the 1950s.

“Thanks to the power of genetics, it fitted like a glove with no alterations needed.”

An excellent example of recycling from the Green.

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Let them eat birthday cake, says Enda

A belated happy birthday to Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. We hear Katherine Zappone celebrated her 63rd last Friday and Enda Kenny – as is his wont – materialised with a cake.

We must thank heaven for small mercies that he hasn’t, as yet, taken to jumping out of them. Katherine attended the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Cardiff on her special day, which was made all the more special with a trip home in the Government jet.

We hear the Taoiseach appeared mid-flight with a small cake and a bottle of Prosecco, whereupon the travelling party toasted the blushing Ms Zappone.

She had another celebration during the week when about 25 supporters and canvassers she had invited to Leinster House turned their visit into an impromptu birthday party.

Also in birthday party mode this week were two stalwarts of the political media scene. Mike Burns, former RTÉ London editor turned media consultant, and Seán “Diggy” Duignan, RTÉ’s former political correspondent and one-time press secretary to Albert Reynolds, pitched up in the Dáil Bar after lunch with friends in the Oireachtas Restaurant to mark their 80th birthdays. Diggy passed that milestone in November while Burns, a mere stripling, doesn’t officially turn 80 until January 17th.