Is the spin-over-substance meme beginning to stick to the Taoiseach?

If you enjoyed the relative quietude of politics and politicians in recent weeks, sorry, but the holidays are over. Politicians were back at their desks this week, and the set pieces of the new political term will begin over the coming days. Sinn Féin meets for its think-in on Monday, with the other parties following in due course. The Cabinet meets on Wednesday after the August hiatus, but before that Fine Gael Ministers will gather on Tuesday for a political planning session. The requirement for “message discipline” – not saying things they’re not supposed to – will be impressed on them, I am told.

It is at this point that Mary Mitchell O'Connor, whose heretical thoughts on teachers' pay annoyed her superiors no end, can be expected to stare hard at the table. But she is hardly the only one inclined to stray off the reservation. Two weeks ago Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty told The Irish Times that pensioners would not be her priority in the budget.

"There are far more vulnerable people in Ireland today than our old age pensioners," she told my colleague Sarah Bardon. "That is not to say they are not deserving; they absolutely are. But, if you look at the poverty index, lone parents and children are probably at the biggest risk of poverty in this country."

If this is the Government spin machine in action, the engine needs an overhaul

But last weekend the Sunday Independent, citing a "source close to Ms Doherty", no less – reported that she was unprepared to give pensioners "less than a fiver".

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There has been a good deal of focus from the Opposition and media in recent days on Leo Varadkar’s “spin machine”, but if this is the Government spin machine in action, the engine needs an overhaul.

There was controversy during the week about the appointment of John Concannon, the marketing specialist whose signature projects include the Wild Atlantic Way and who is now based at the Department of the Taoiseach. Concannon will lead a team that will seek more effective ways to communicate the work of Government. This is not a political appointment or a party-political task: it is Civil Service work. But of course it's impossible to disaggregate it completely from politics.

It is true that there is a new priority given to communications in Government. It was a central part of Varadkar’s pitch to Fine Gael during the party’s leadership election: his ability to talk to voters, his promise of a clear message, a sharp political focus that would connect with the electorate in a way that Enda Kenny had never quite managed.

But what is the message to be communicated? Politicians are often criticised for communications failings. Usually it’s the message itself that is the problem. It’s the substance that matters more.

The Pride parades, triathlons, socks and tweets emphasise Leo Varadkar's novelty. That's fine, but novelty is a wasting asset

So far the message appears to be Varadkar himself. If you had to name the biggest change in the Government since the retirement of Enda Kenny what would it be? I’d venture that most people would say it’s the person of the Taoiseach himself.

The Pride parades, the triathlons, the socks, the tweets: these are projections of Varadkar's personality. They emphasise his novelty. That's fine, but novelty is a wasting asset. And voters did not tire of Enda Kenny because they believed he was not fit enough, or insufficiently active on social media. They believed he was not making progress on the issues that mattered to them. On housing, on health, on public services, on making the economic recovery palpable in their daily lives. These are the things on which Leo Varadkar's administration will also be judged. And it's hard to see how he differs from his predecessor in addressing these difficult and complex issues.

On Thursday night Varadkar tweeted that he found it “hard to believe” it was 20 years since the death of Princess Diana. “He’s now said more about Princess Diana than he has about the health service,” texted one opponent acidly. Harsh maybe, but you can see where’s he’s coming from. You can expect a lot more of that as politics returns.

What does a republic of opportunity actually mean? Has Varadkar told you? What does it mean for housing and homelessness and health?

Fianna Fáil doesn’t quite know what to make of Varadkar yet; it hasn’t figured him out. But it knows how it wants to attack him: spin over substance. You will hear that charge, or a version of it, every time a Fianna Fáiler speaks this autumn. Micheál Martin basically says it every time he opens his mouth.

Varadkar’s leadership campaign featured a handful of signature messages: the Republic of Opportunity, the support for the people who get up early in the morning, capital spending, prudent budgeting. But he hasn’t really fleshed those out to form the core of a new message for a new government. Ask yourself: what does a republic of opportunity actually mean? Has Varadkar told you? What does it mean for housing and homelessness and health?

There was talk over the summer in Government circles that Varadkar was thinking out this stuff, and that it would become apparent in the autumn. The idea for a major speech has been bounced about, and some insiders expected it to be delivered at the Kennedy Summer School next week. But Varadkar isn't on the schedule.

One Minister insists that bedding the administration down for a few months before charting a fresh course in the autumn was always the plan. Perhaps that’s the case. But the same person admits to some concern that the spin-over-substance meme is beginning to stick a bit.

Politics abhors a vacuum. If you don’t define yourself your opponents will do it for you.