The temperature is rising, but it’s not climate change – it’s Leinster House!

THE skies were extremely busy this week with some unseasonably early kite-flying taking place. You couldn’t move for them where I am in Dublin. I’m surprised they didn’t have to close that runway in Dublin Airport again.

All this was mostly thanks to Fine Gael, of course, who seem adamant to get the word out that a big tax windfall is coming the way of middle Ireland later this year. 

Three junior ministers were out in the papers last week, feverishly hoovering up column inches, breathlessly floating the idea of income tax cuts worth €1,000 to average earners. This certainly ruffled some feathers in Fianna Fáil who are not taking kindly to this sort of strategic posturing. Especially when it clearly had the backing of the Taoiseach, furiously spinning like a tractor wheel in a wet field in Durrus. 

While most of us are worried about getting our beach bodies ready for the summer, it seems the Blueshirts are more concerned with getting their budget bodies buffed for autumn, and have decided to steal a march on their coalition partners in the process.  ‘Danger here!’, as George Hamilton might say.

We’re used to seeing a fair bit of this nonsense over the silly season of course, but this year the grandstanding seems to be happening earlier than ever, a sign of global warming if ever there was one. 

With noxious emissions in and around Leinster House in danger of causing some sort of climate event, you’d wonder if the public has the stomach for a whole summer of it. 

For most of us, with all this talk of Apple windfalls, Meta fines and tax receipts fit to burst through the walls of the Department of Finance, it feels like we’re living in a different reality completely. 

Down here in the real world, the cost of living is so eye-watering you’d need a mortgage for a punnet of strawberries. So the promise of a bit of a tax break in six months’ time is of little comfort to those trying to make ends meet. 

So it’s a high-risk game, this aggressive early summer kite-flying. It’s one thing to get a kite up in the air, it’s another one entirely to keep it aloft all the way to budget day. That takes some skill. You’d wonder what the public mood might be like come autumn when some very different winds might be blowing.

Silver lining shows at last

‘TWAS like the glory days again as Munster’s long wait for silverware ended last weekend. It’s hard to believe how long they’ve had to wait in the shadows of Leinster to lift a trophy again. 

And boy did they do it in the time-honoured Munster fashion. Against all odds. Backs against the wall. Deep in enemy territory in front of a hostile crowd. Covered in muck. 

I’d be surprised if someone hasn’t written a play about it already.

Fitting, too, that it was a West Cork man who enjoyed the crowning glory of a last-minute try to snatch that 19-14 victory over the DHL Stormers in Cape Town. 

Not only did Rosscarbery native John Hodnett heroically dive over for five points in the dying embers of the match, but he also manfully dropped an F-Bomb for the ages on live TV, much to Peter O’Mahony’s amusement. 

It’s great to see them back again and with so many West Cork players involved too. A turning point for the province, perhaps, with great things yet to come.

Divided loyalites?

 I WAS talking to a neighbour the other day, a big Dublin GAA supporter whose wife happens to be from Cork. He went on a little rant about the Cork footballers being a disgrace. ‘All those great players, the biggest county in the country and why can’t ye get it together?’

‘Beats me,’ I shrugged, sipping on my iced coffee (only €7.99 from my local fruit and veg market).

On the one hand, I wanted to deck him in his driveway and tie him up with his garden hose. On the other, I wanted to hear him out.

‘You know what the problem with Cork is,’  he said to me. 

‘What’s the problem with Cork?’ I mumbled, through a fresh mouthful of purple snack (what can I say, it was elevenses).

‘Last time I was down there on a Sunday afternoon in the pub, every last one of them was in the pub with their Munster jerseys, glued to the rugby. ‘Tis no wonder the footballers can’t deliver on the pitch when the public doesn’t support them.’ 

It was harsh, but maybe not exactly unfair, either? The perils of being a county with such a wide breadth of sporting interests. 

At least the footballers showed a bit of spark against Louth this weekend. Not that I have a clue how the actual championship works anymore. They are all in groups now it seems. And they have to play each other twelve times each, once in Irish and twice while hopping on one leg. Then there is a round-robin backdoor super qualifier called the McRufferty Cup where they let all the teams out, free range, to fend for themselves in the Galtee Mountains. In the nip. Then the survivors get to play in the All-Ireland semi-finals. 

In less positive news, it wasn’t such a great weekend for the hurlers. They went the way of poor ‘aul Tina Turner and finished the summer early. No shame in losing to Limerick of course, who are simply the best. Better than all the rest. Better than anyone. 

Mr Plastic Fantastic

It was a much better week, though, for 22-year-old Fionn Ferreira from Ballydehob who was named a finalist in the annual European Inventor Award for developing a method of extracting microplastics from our waters. 

You love to see it – youngsters looking at problems in the world around them and proactively going out to change things. 

Fair play to you, Fionn!