Cartoon capers on serious subjects

DAIL SKETCH: The relationship between Pat Rabbitte and the Ceann Comhairle grows more strained with every week, and even the most sanguine political observers fear it will end badly.

The Labour leader's style of questioning frequently runs aground on Dr O'Hanlon's standing orders. And on these occasions, like a differently spelt rabbit made famous by Warner Brothers, he turns his sarcasm on the chair, with queries along the lines of "What's up, Doc?". The exasperation is entirely mutual, however, and in the resulting confrontations Dr O'Hanlon is increasingly suggestive of Elmer Fudd.

Yesterday the wascally wabbit - sorry, Wabbitte - returned to his favourite theme of late, seeking an apology from the Taoiseach for having "deliberately misled" the Dáil on the indemnity for the religious institutions. This was a euphemism for the l-word he was forced to withdraw last week. But it was still too much for the Ceann Comhairle, who was on his feet immediately, offering a choice between another withdrawal or ejection.

This seemed like the showdown many had predicted. The Wabbitte was apparently not for turning, and in a cameo appearance as Daffy Duck, John Gormley urged him to stand his ground. "Don't withdraw it!" he shouted from the safety of the Green benches.

Meanwhile the Ceann Comhairle stood, trigger finger poised, waiting for the formal announcement of Wabbitte season.

But just as it seemed that Elmer finally had the pesky varmint cornered, Mr Rabbitte made his escape via the old cartoon trick of a collapsible adverb. Deliberately leaving out the word "deliberately", he repeated that the Taoiseach had "misled" the House and sat down. The chair interpreted this as a withdrawal and the crisis had passed - for now.

Enda Kenny had his problems with the chair, too. In devoting his Leader's Questions slot to the DART, he suffered by comparison with Mr Rabbitte's obsessive focus on a national issue. But, of course, it suits Fine Gael to be interested in Dublin, just as it suits Labour to project its concern about taxpayers' money.

And Mr Kenny continues to exude a more confident demeanour, suggesting he could yet succeed in his plan to "electrify" the party. On the other hand, his improved performance could just be a temporary benefit of his recent altitude training. Certainly, he was obsessed with oxygen use yesterday, as he attempted to raise the dramatic reduction in Freedom of Information Act use.

During an argument with the Ceann Comhairle over those standing orders, Mr Kenny said that information was the "oxygen of democracy" and questioned the chair's aerobic efficiency. "I'm not sure if the Cavan-Monaghan air has affected you," he complained, "but you're being very restrictive".

Mr Rabbitte's success at agenda-setting was subsequently confirmed when the Fine Gael party whip, Bernard Durkan, called for an emergency debate on the Taoiseach's statements about the indemnity.