Cosgrave death ends a link with birth of State

News of the death of the former taoiseach Liam Cosgrave broke last night, and this morning’s paper are full of tributes and assessments of the man and his career.

Aged 97, he had been in poor health for some time, and the announcement was not unexpected. The Dail will hear tributes today, and there is likely to be a State funeral in due course.

The Irish Times has managed to pull together a four-page supplement. Sometimes newspapers are kind of miracles. It’s all online, of course.

Stephen Collins has a comprehensive obituary, as well as an assessment of Cosgrave's political career.

‘Irish Times’ poll: Almost half voters happy with Varadkar

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John Bruton: Liam Cosgrave put country before politics

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Fintan O'Toole, John Bruton and Elaine Byrne all chip in with pieces. As does Vincent Browne, who reckons Cosgrave was not a great taoiseach but he wasn't the worst - which is high praise indeed from Vincent.

The death of a former leader of the country is always a signal moment in the country’s development.

In the case of Cosgrave, whose father was one of the band of men and women who founded the Republic and who led it in its early, fragile years, it is especially so. His passing marks the end of a link with the birth of the Irish State.

The centre rises

The other subject of maximum political interest today will be this morning’s Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll. It’s our lead story this morning, with the usual analysis and graphics inside.

Briefly, the poll finds that although there are few significant changes in terms of party support since the last poll in May, the slow drift back to Fine Gael and Fianna Fail continues. The independents and small parties – taken as a group – continue to fall back.

All that is a continuation of already evident trends. The new bit in this poll is the new Taoiseach. Leo Varadkar has sky-high personal ratings, and almost half of voters think he has changed government for the better. Much of this may be novelty, but it gives him a chance to talk to voters. The question is: What will he say to them? And will they like it?

My analysis is here, and pollster Damian Loscher’s is here.

Plenty more where all that came from too over the next few days.