…he was not alone in criticising the Taoiseach yesterday. Another Fianna Fáil TD, Margaret Murphy-O’Mahony, wrote on Twitter that the delay in Mr Varadkar and Mr Johnson talking “says so much about our Taoiseach #badlyhandling”. She also subsequently deleted this tweet.
Mr Martin had to issue a tweet clarifying Fianna Fáil’s position.
“To be absolutely clear; the refusal by PM Boris Johnson to engage with European leaders and our Taoiseach without pre conditions on the issue of Brexit is unacceptable and is not within the realms of normal diplomatic or political behaviour,” he wrote.
Fianna Fáil’s Dooley rebuked over his ‘bizarre’ Brexit ‘solo run (Independent.ie)
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I don’t think #badyhandling is going to take off as a trend
hehehehe
#civlwarshirts ?
#bueshirts?
I do wish those who are taking cheap shots would specify exactly what it is they would have done differently- vague waffle about diplomacy is just noise for the sake of itself.
+1
I can give a few suggestions.
1. Not taken the view that UK must provide the solutions without any engagement or support from Ireland.
2. Responded to the UK Civil Service calls for engagement and assisted them in their “Oh sh*t its really happening plans”. Or at least confirm we’ll jointly honour some of their proposals.
3. Had quiet, Chatham House Rules meetings behind closed doors away from Brussels and away from Politics. See what alternative measures could be proposed, what might work, what could stay. Then we look at how we frame those alternatives so we can both look like we have a victory. We then take those to the EU.
4. Had short, medium and long term plans with timescales from those. Like, we can’t really get a smooth border without X time and X investment. Here are some options on food, products, services, health and people that will meet EU specifications, but also allow Brexit.
Unfortunately, we took the decision to not engage.
should we reward bad behaviour with meek acceptance?
They are allowed their “red lines” but we cannot say “No, you are wrong”?
Should we allow for the most chaotic circumstances that will affect ours and our neighbour’s people purely based upon a few acting like dicks and damaging our own political ego?
It was Varadkar’s biggest mistake to ban Irish civil servants having any discussions with their NI counterparts three years ago over ways of trying to sort out the border issue.
It has deepended suspicions in the North of his intentions and wasted huge amounts of valuable time with many thinking it was a political move to head off the threat of Sinn Fein.
A cleverer statesman would have also used the unusual circumstances of Ireland and Brexit to this country’s advantage.
Instead he has been played by Tusk and Barnier and now with only a few weeks to go before a possible No Deal Brexit and the dire economic consequences that entails he has been exposed as the Emperor with no clothes and no Plan B.
And then the EU will come after Ireland’s corporate tax status.
+ 168*
(* the number of times you’ve written that very same comment)
Sometimes you have to keep hitting the donkey repeatedly to make it move …
nobody forced you to marry her
At least it’s a her, Quentin …
Challenging sermons!
It is the oppositions job to pointlessly criticize and offer no alternatives. It makes them seem like they are working , even though they are doing absolutely nothing. When a big party does it they are seen as ridiculous, (and they are) but when a social justice warrior independent who came in on a protest vote after the chaos of the financial crash in ’08 and accomplishes zero during her time in the Dail and criticizes the handling of brexit ( when she’s not too busy fielding questions for anti-vaxers) she is hailed as , and I quote: “such an amazing woman, absolutely love her” . They are all as bad as each other. The best thing to do is to watch ones spending that’s the only power a pleb really has. The politicians themselves number one propriety is to secure their personal financial future and family dynasty. We must do the same. Voting in general elections is a waste of time.
Say what you like about our politicians, but any party with more than two TDs is on the same page about preserving a back stop* in the withdrawal agreement, as agreed between the EU and the British govt (though rejected by the British parliament and no doubt rejected by the British govt as of last week).
There has been remarkable cooperation between FF, FG, SF and Labour, and a majority of the rest, at least 150 of the 158 TDs.
And that cooperation has extended to the tone of commentary about the Irish negotiators, the government, Leo V, Simon Coveney and the civil servants.
Contrasts with the political chaos elsewhere.
* [Per December 2017 EU/UK joint declaration, which has been transposed into draft withdrawal agreement]The United Kingdom remains committed to protecting North-South cooperation and to its guarantee of avoiding a hard border. Any future arrangements must be compatible with these overarching requirements. The United Kingdom’s intention is to achieve these objectives through the overall EU-UK relationship. Should this not be possible, the United Kingdom will propose specific solutions to address the unique circumstances of the island of Ireland. In the absence of agreed solutions, the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the all island economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement.
…best comment on Timmy’s tweet was from Patsy McGarryIT who pointed out that his illustrious predecessors in Clare – Eamonn DeValera and Daniel O’Connell – wouldn’t agree with his assessment…bad call Timmy that will live with you despite deletion…
Dimmy’s out for another silly season.