Talk of battle puts McDowell on the offensive

Dáil Sketch:It was not a promising start. The students in the public gallery looked bored and one was so unimpressed by it all that he slept through all the motions of "national and local public importance", through the recital of the day's order of business, and he even dozed for some of the row about neutrality.

But he came to suddenly, startled by the noise when the Opposition erupted after Tánaiste Michael McDowell baited their ranks about the divide among the "would-be allies of an alternative government" on the issue of battlegroups and neutrality.

It started with a proposal to have a memorandum about EU battlegroups dealt with at committee, without debate in the Dáil. Opposition deputies cried foul and said it should all be discussed in the Dáil, not at committee - it was denying accountability to the House.

Adopting the attack-is-the- best-form-of-defence policy, Mr McDowell got them all stirred up by highlighting potential cracks in the would-be alternative government.

The Government was completely committed to the triple lock, he said in a reasonable tone of voice, "but there is no agreement on the maintenance of the triple lock on the other side of the House".

It was the spark that lit the fuse. "You do enough talking outside, have the debate in the Dáil," Labour's Michael D Higgins said.

Then there was a row about the length of time given to discuss the controversial Criminal Justice Bill. Labour leader Pat Rabbitte was aghast at the thought of the number of amendments that might be introduced: "On the last occasion, you came into the House with a couple of hundred pages of amendments so the Lord knows what you might do next week on this Bill."

The Tánaiste said, however, the Bill would be debated all day today, next week and the following week. Again homing in on potential differences between Fine Gael and Labour, he thanked Fine Gael for indicating support, adding that "I have not yet heard an unambiguous statement from the Labour Party as to whether it supports the Bill".

"You'll get your answer in a few weeks," suggested Michael D Higgins, in reference to the election.

"I'm sure I will," replied the Tánaiste, because by then they would be at the final stages of the Bill's passage through the Dáil.

In the meantime the Labour leader congratulated the Irish cricket team on its World Cup performance and asked the Tánaiste to consider the "great financial burden" imposed on the team by reaching the Super Eight stage, by facilitating its stay.

The Minister congratulated the team, said the Minister for Foreign Affairs was offering consular facilities, and went on to send "best wishes to the Irish soccer team playing for the first time in Croke Park".

He also congratulated the Irish rugby team on its achievement in Rome and "the under-20s deserve particular mention for their great achievement in winning the grand slam".

Fine Gael's Michael Ring then quipped: "What about the horses in Cheltenham?"