Mixed fortunes for our dear leaders

The talks between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael enter their third day today and, following sessions on how the mechanics of a minority government will work, it is understood discussions will turn to policy.

Such is the seriousness of the information lockdown, the Fianna Fáil negotiating team has taken to moving in pack formation from their Leinster House offices to Government Buildings, lest one of them get picked off by bored journalists.

The Irish Times thought it had Michael McGrath cornered yesterday until the Cork South Central TD was rescued by Charlie McConalogue, who selflessly turned back to rescue his captain from our inquiries. The resulting confusion allowed Jim O’Callaghan slip past unimpeded.

As Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael thrash out some class of a deal, the Independents watch on anxiously. Many, however, are appalled that the man they would love to support as taoiseach doesn’t want the job, and the man they don’t want is fighting for it, knowing that his political life depends on it.

The Independents have been telling Simon Coveney, Frances Fitzgerald and others that Enda Kenny is the main stumbling block to doing a deal with Fine Gael. Some have even inquired about how quickly a Fine Gael leadership election could be wrapped up - and have been told it can be done within days.

The Fine Gael constitution says it must be completed within 20 days, but the contest - which gives votes to members, councillors and the parliamentary party - can be shortened.

But there is no chance of a move against Mr Kenny in the short term, and Fine Gael-leaning Independents will have to stomach voting for him in the hope that he will be gone within a year of a minority government being formed, if it will even last that long.

Micheál Martin is also frustrating the Independents because they believe he does not want to be in government, even if it is there for the taking. One Fianna Fáil-leaning deputy yesterday said that Mr Martin - looking on at teachers, nurses and guards lining up for increased pay - wanted nowhere near the taoiseach's office.

Given the political bind they find themselves in, it’s no wonder many Independents are still plugging away for constituency deals or, eh, national deals that have a local impact.

You’d almost think Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are taking pleasure in the discomfort of Independents, hoping their behaviour as they approach power will convince voters that only political parties are serious about government.

It’s almost the basis for political attack come the next election. Almost . . .

Dialogue of the deaf

And then there is Joan. Joan, who as Pat Leahy reported this week, is considering standing again for the leadership of the Labour Party. It is often said of politicians that they need a thick skin, but Ms Burton's must be the toughest.

How else to explain her concluding, in the aftermath of a recent post-election meeting where TDs and defeated candidates effectively told her she is no longer wanted as leader, that she is indeed the best person to lead the revival of the party?

The parliamentary party and defeated election candidates have told Ms Burton it is time to go, yet her response - seemingly borne of a fear of what Alan Kelly will do as leader - is that she is the best person to lead the people who don't want her.

Although she clearly has the best interests of Labour at heart, others in the party hope the issue can be brought to a head - with Ms Burton standing aside - once the situation on government formation becomes clear.

Pat follows up this morning with further details from a Labour Party that must surely hope this is the last fresh bout of madness before it can move on from the election and rebuild.

Brendan Howlin is being urged to declare his hand, with the parliamentary party apparently set to present him to the members as an agreed candidate.

Speculation last night suggested that Labour could possibly even vote for Mr Kenny as taoiseach in return for one or two of the 11 Seanad seats that would then be in his gift.

The party badly needs the likes of Ged Nash, Aodhan Ó'Ríordáin and Kevin Humphreys in the Upper House to help rebuild the party.