We are indeed living in strange times. Fianna Fail is becoming more distressed at Fine Gael's treatment of Liam Cosgrave. The closer it comes to the promised publication of the FF internal inquiry into planning abuse, the more upset Fianna Fail is getting on Cosgrave's behalf.
As another week ticks away and still no sign of the report promised by Dermot Ahern and others, Fianna Fail may have become so worried that it may be forced not just to delay, but to rethink the publication format.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael became so worked up about the necessity for Charles Haughey to have a fair trial that it said Mary Harney should be censured. Then, in an unusual departure from Bertiespeak, Ahern threatened to stand by the Constitution.
As translated by Brendan Howlin, this means Fianna Fail has decided to stand by corporate contributions. Such contributions are a core value for Fianna Fail. Bertie would be prepared to do "something" but Labour's refusal to play ball means he can only feign helplessness.
Accept the principle of banning corporate contributions and we will work the committee, says Labour. Bertie understands too well the advantage conferred on Fianna Fail by corporate donations to let go.
Nor has the D-word faded from the political scene, despite the first faltering steps by the revived institutions. Drapier is not referring to the decommissioning issue in Northern Ireland but rather to the distraction factor in the Republic. Fianna Fail strategists must be well pleased. Given the enormity of the implications ail of what is unfolding at Dublin Castle, the distraction campaign is working well.
In week one, John Bruton was implicated in supposedly having knowledge of alleged serious wrongdoing by one of his party's councillors. In week two, Pat Rabbitte became involved in a returned campaign donation. In week three, Mary Harney was singled out as being responsible for the O'Flaherty debacle. And Dick Spring, shock horror, was "discovered" to be dabbling in the commercial world.
People were invited in dark, ominous tones to read all about Spring's "secret life" in Ireland on Sunday. Could the very proper Kerry man be a cross-dresser? The reality was more mundane. The former foreign minister had accepted a number of prestigious directorships. In a week when Mr Haughey's golden network was shown to have coughed up some £8 1/2 million to support his self-image, Ireland on Sunday's main story focused on the to with a man who debased his office to cadge huge sums of money to support his opulent lifestyle. Whatever political errors Spring may have made, neither his office nor his favours were ever for sale.
Mary Harney also has made mistakes. However, she has taken the flak for a decision she acquiesced in but for which others were responsible. An oldfashioned Fianna Fail stroke threw the dwindling PD party into turmoil and sufficiently unnerved Harney to force her gaffe on Haughey's rendezvous with justice. Meanwhile, the real authors of the O'Flaherty debacle, Charlie McCreevy and Bertie Ahern, were nowhere to be seen. Nobody in politics doubted that Hugh O'Flaherty would be fixed up, but the EIB gig was a surprise. Most sections of the media were content to pursue the hapless Harney while Fianna Fail sniggered behind their hands. Yesterday's High Court decision will at least temporarily halt the sniggering.
And yet there are signs that Bertie and Charlie may be running out of road. The arrogance of the O'Flaherty appointment not only destabilised the PDs but badly shook the Government. There is no let-up at Dublin Castle as the judicial excavation continues to unearth embarrassment after embarrassment. The distractions may work in the short term but the damage for Fianna Fail could be devastating.
Bertie's hardline stance in favour of corporate funding is nonetheless noteworthy. The Fianna Fail machine without the corporate millions would be weakened. The party must figure it can ride out the storm. The supposed constitutional impediment to banning corporate donations implies that Bertie and the Attorney General, Michael McDowell, are at one. McDowell opposed a ban when a member of the Dail, but his motivation seemed ideological rather than constitutional.
So long as the individual citizen is free to contribute to a party or candidate - even if the amounts are regulated, as advocated by the Labour Party - Drapier is sceptical of the constitutional infirmity argument. Mary Harney had earlier hinted that the time had come to consider a corporate ban. Bertie can be assumed to be running counter to her wishes, as well as to the wishes of the informed public.
This is the second time in a week that McDowell has allowed the word to go abroad that he is at odds with Harney. First it was the O'Flaherty appointment, and now corporate funding of politics. What does this augur for the future?
Meanwhile, Ruairi Quinn and his troops have decamped to Tipperary to boost the campaign of Ellen Ferris to retain the seat of the late Michael Ferris. If Quinn pulls it off, he will be the first party leader to win four successive by-elections. All the parties concede that the wild card is independent socialist Seamus Healy, but he probably doesn't have the appeal of Ellen Ferris.
Although we have just chalked up the biggest number of murders in the history of the State, John O'Donoghue says we are below the European average. There's zero tolerance for you.