FF pass, but Sinn Féin run with the ball on Fine Gael’s Imma embarrassment

Was it going to be the elephant in the room again?

For the second day running in the Dáil, Fianna Fáil didn’t raise at leaders’ questions the controversy convulsing Fine Gael over the nomination of their Seanad election candidate to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

But then the soldiers of destiny do have some skeletons in their cupboard.

Here was a chance to embarrass the Government on a major issue. However, rather than add to the self-inflicted discomfort of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil instead passed the ball and Sinn Féin was only too happy to pick it up and run with it.

The party’s deputy leader, Mary Lou McDonald, tackled the Tánaiste over Labour’s approach to Fine Gael’s faux pas, a mistake that gathered wings through the day with the resignation from the party of a Fine Gael member, Samantha Long, who had been on the party’s priority list of candidates.

Then the candidate himself, Donegal businessman John McNulty, announced his resignation from the Imma board, because he cannot be on the board while running for public office. And semi-detached Fine Gael TD John Deasy took yet another potshot at his party leader, describing his running of the party as “disgusting”.

Before all that happened however Sinn Féin threw a few verbal punches at Labour in the Dáil over Fine Gael’s political embarrassment.

Mary Lou talked about “jobs for the boys” in the appointment and used the politically pungent phrase “the stink of cronyism”.

She asked for the Labour party’s view on all of this and if the Tánaiste supported the Taoiseach and ifLabour TDs would support Mr McNulty in the Seanad byelection next month.

But Joan Burton is as good as Enda Kenny and almost equal to Bertie Ahern for taking the circuitous meandering route in her replies.

It was a matter for Fine Gael, she said and she talked about Labour’s great role in promoting women. Mary Lou came back and said that she hadn’t asked about gender.

Joan talked about Sinn Féin doing like every other party and appointing people to boards. “I’m sure all those people were eminently qualified,” the Tánaiste said reassuringly.

“Unlike the Fine Gael fellow,” quipped Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley, which had them rolling in the aisles.

Joan then went on the offensive and told Mary Lou she wasn’t addressing the ardchomhairle of Sinn Féin now.

Cue some indrawn breath and Mary Lou smiling back “I can see that.”

The Tánaiste then told her she was quite “impertinent” to suggest how members of the Dáil or Seanad should vote.