Eh, well, that didn’t exactly go to plan, did it?
Denmark’s carpet bombing of Ireland’s World Cup dreams last night will dampen the nation’s mood considerably this morning, though many bank managers and credit union loan committees will be heaving a sigh of relief now that they won’t be asked to finance a suspicious number of home improvements next summer.
To be honest, though many of you will not want to hear it this morning, it's probably for the best. Russia can be a dodgy enough spot. We wouldn't have got very far in the competition. And it's a foreign game anyway.
A pall of gloom descended over the nation, and the finger-pointing and accusations began with alacrity, even by the standards customary to the Gael. Manager Martin O'Neill was put through the mincer on RTÉ and on social media.
Is there a lesson for politics and politicians? There always is, if you look hard enough. Fortune does not always favour the bold. More often it favours the well-prepared, the methodical, the technically accomplished, and the ruthless. Anyone contemplating a general election would do well to bear that in mind. Otherwise the fate of Martin O'Neill, or more pertinently Theresa May, awaits.
Anyway, here's Frank McNally's summary of a disappointing night.
And the match reports, while we’re at it:
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/ireland-s-world-cup-hopes-crumble-at-the-feet-of-christian-eriksen-1.3292069https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/ken-early-ireland-get-the-opener-but-eriksen-spills-the-beans-1.3292139
Hold that soup run
Our lead story this morning is sure to cause a stir. A senior official in the Dublin Region Homeless Executive has told Dublin City Council’s policing committee that volunteers who hand out food and clothes to homeless people on the streets are not helping them because they are facilitating the continuance of their chaotic lifestyle.
“Let’s be under no illusion here,” Eileen Gleeson, who is the director of the homeless executive, said. “When somebody becomes homeless it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes years of bad behaviour probably or behaviour that isn’t the behaviour of you and me.”
The full story is here.
It is likely that there is some conflation of homelessness and rough sleeping - a much smaller subset of the problem - is going on here. But that’s likely to be lost in the hurricane I suspect is about to be unleashed.
What else?
Harry McGee reports that Sinn Féin continues its movement towards participation in the post-election coalition game.
A motion at next weekend’s ard fheis would drop the ban on entering government as a junior partner with either of the big two.
Other changes are afoot too, with the party set for a possibly significant liberalisation of its position on abortion, currently a lot more restrictive than the party pretends.
And there’s the fate of Gerry, who has indicated he will outline a timetable for the next phase of the generational change - his departure from the leadership position he has held since 1983. Word is that Gerry’s announcement will be kept a secret until the speech is actually delivered. And the Shinners are quite good at keeping secrets, let’s face it.
The secretary general of the Department of Justice is to retire in February, when he reaches 40 years service, the Cabinet was told yesterday.
Coincidentally, this comes as the Department of Justice is being questioned about exactly how much it knew about the legal strategy employed by former Garda commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan at the O'Higgins Commission of Investigation, when the credibility and motivation of the Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe was attacked. Though the Government insisted that the two developments were entirely unconnected. Fiach Kelly has the story.
Also today, the vote for the 2023 Rugby World Cup is being held in London. Minister for Sport Shane Ross has travelled over for some last minute lobbying. Along with the Taoiseach, he has been lobbying hard, apparently. Will it be another crushing defeat or is an upset on the cards? Crushing defeat, predicts the Leinster House conventional wisdom. We shall see. Here's Gerry Thornley's preview.
Best reads
Kathy Sheridan has reservations about the Dear Leader's Twitter game (Subscriber only).
Dublin needs a powerful elected mayor, says Noel Dempsey. And it will never happen.
Vincent Boland on why Boris Johnson - who visits Dublin on Friday, by the way - cannot have his cake and eat it.
Ben Tonra on the plans for closer EU military co-operation. Fine Gael will shortly propose to the Independents that Ireland signs up.
Australians have voted in favour of same sex marriage in a nationwide plebiscite. Here's the Sydney Morning Herald's report.
It seems there might have been a coup in Zimbabwe.
Playbook
Busy day today.
Dáil
The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney open a public consultation on the future of Europe this morning.
Leaders' Questions at 12pm in the Dáil is followed by questions on promised legislation. Taoiseach's questions (usually about 100 times more informative than leaders') and then oral parliamentary questions to the Minister for Health Simon Harris.
The Labour Party has Private Members' business on its Housing Bill at 4.45pm for two hours, then Government business all evening which features debate on three pieces of Government legislation:
-Report and Final Stages of the Diplomatic Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017
-The same for the Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill 2017
-And second stage of the Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Bill 2017
The Dáil adjourns at 10.15pm.
Seanad
The Seanad starts at 10.30am, the (meandering, pointless) order of business is at 11.30am and then after an early signature motion for the Water Services Bill (or the ‘get your money back Bill’ as it is known in some quarters) and statements on health, there is a report stage debate on the Civil Liability (Amendment) Bill 2017 at 5.30pm.
Sinn Féin Private Members’ business is a motion on JobPath.
The House adjourns at 8pm.
Committees
It will be a long day at the committees.
The health committee will discuss Rights, Resources and Regulation of Homecare, with representatives from the department and representatives from the Health Research Board this morning.
Later, members will hear from representatives from Age Action Ireland, the National Community Care Network (NCCN), and also from health economist Prof Eamonn O'Shea. They should listen to him; he used to manage the Tipperary hurling team.
Revised estimates, ie scrutiny of the budget, at the housing committee and pre-legislative scrutiny of the Data Retention Bill at the justice committee, which will hear the view of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the National Union of Journalists, no less.
Revised estimates at the rural affairs committee too, while the Seanad selection committee and the Dáil reform committee have private meetings. Spies, report.
More revised estimates at the culture and heritage committee at 1.30pm.
The Eighth Amendment committee - packed and closely watched online always - meets at 1.30pm to speak to Caitríona Henchion of the Irish Family Planning Association, a longtime advocate of abortion reform, and from Janice Donlon, of the HSE, Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme, who will voice concerns about some crisis pregnancy agencies, as Sarah Bardon reports this morning.
The tourism committee meets David McGarry, chairperson designate of the Shannon Foynes Port Company and Fred Barry, the chairperson designate of the National Transport Authority.
Irish Farmers' Association president Joe Healy is in at the European Affairs committee at 3pm, while Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O'Connor discusses the Technological Universities Bill at the education committee at 5pm.
So that’s it. Have a jolly day. And don’t worry: Der er altid næste år, as the Danes say. There’s always next year.
