“Rotten apples – we’ve a barrel full of them!”

“Surprise Surprise”, as Cilla Black would once have said. Leo “The Limelight” Varadkar has with all the Wisdom of Solomon, decided to give his full backing to his embattled, beleaguered, Tánaiste, Minister Frances Fitzgerald. In many ways, he is very quickly becoming our very own version of the “Iron Lady”, Margaret Thatcher. He is very clearly “Not for turning!”

Over the last few days, right across our national media, he has repeated the same mantra, time after time, after time. He will, come hell or high water, not throw out, sack, dismiss, get rid of, abandon, or ask her to resign.

As a result, there has been nothing but incessant talk about a possible general election before Christmas. Come on Leo, we have barely had time to recover from “Trick or Treating”, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Winterval starting and the switching on of our Christmas lights. We were all beginning to feel at lot like Christmas and with one fell swoop, you have with your Scrooge “Bah humbug” attitude, put back the misery in our hearts.

If you follow through with your hard line Maggie Thatcher attitude, you will do nobody any favours. The Irish public do not want another general election and your aides, spin doctors and political advisers MUST be telling you this. Even Santa Claus, is probably writing a letter to you as we speak. You’ll be placed at the VERY TOP of his “Naughty list”, if you continue with this election threat.

I for one, don’t wish to see any politicians this side of Christmas. We want to greet carol singers knocking at our doors and not political activists, pushing regurgitated 2016 fake election promises into our face. The mood of the electorate is no election this side of Santa’s arrival. Yet once again, you seem to be ignoring the wishes of the very people who gave you the keys to the Dáil.

It now transpires, that not only did your besieged Tánaiste ignore an important email, a senior official in her department, also appears to have taken a phone call as a follow up to said email. An email, which was very conveniently forgotten by the Minister, despite the content being the hottest gossip in town.

For sure, we all make mistakes and errors of judgement, however there is a feeling that a select few are now trying to give us the run-around. Are we, the public, once again being treated like the dirt on one’s shoe?  

When this current Government and FG came to power, there were undertakings that favouritism and cronyism would be a thing of the past. That was OLD Irish politics, they said. Then Leo seized power. Grabbing the limelight and promising that there would be open transparency never seen before, in Leinster House. He very quickly rolled back on that pledge. We are now in the midst of a whirlwind of corruption, sticking two fingers up to the people of Ireland.

I am not sure there is ONE good apple in our political barrel.

Our members of the Dáil, are quite clearly prepared to do everything it takes, to greedily grab more power for their own gain. Long gone are the days, when you would throw your hat into the political arena for the betterment of your constituency. It has become more about “What’s in it for me”, rather than how can I make a real difference to the lives of the people of Ireland?

I would quite happily blacken ALL political parties with the same brush. No matter what they say in public, behind closed doors they are all the identical. All from the same malevolent gene pool. Opposition parties promise the earth, moon and stars to be elected. Yet, when and if they get in to power, their election manifesto, turns out to be a wish list, nothing more.

Will we be going to the polls before Rudolph et al, deliver Santa to your chimney, ready to sip his now customary malt whisky or even whiskey? I for one hope not.

I secretly think, that the political glitterati also wish to avoid a GE. Are they perhaps accruing a few more months on office, whilst augmenting their sizeable pensions!