Katherine Zappone falls foul of FG leadership’s arrogance

In May 2016, as Shane Ross and his Independent Alliance played the high hand in government formation, disdaining and demanding like political bridezillas, Katherine Zappone slipped in quietly under the radar. She was the first Independent to support Enda Kenny for taoiseach then (Michael Lowry as gene pool didn't count) and changed the course of politics.

Jane Austen, as always, gave us the archetype. Remember Charlotte Lucas from Pride and Prejudice? The quiet little cousin who, while Elizabeth Bennet was having a haughty fit about Mr Collins's marriage proposal, slipped in quietly and nabbed the "catch" from under everyone's noses.

A grateful suitor is a rewarding one. Zappone, a newcomer to Dáil Éireann, became minister for children and youth affairs and garnered a reputation as a shrewd politician, a reputation unassailed in her short parliamentary career.

Despite one near misstep, when Enda Kenny found himself exposed on what the cabinet knew about her meeting with whistleblower Maurice McCabe, she was surefooted. And she was always on the right side of history; having long campaigned for same-sex marriage and for the right to choose, she was in the Oireachtas when they came to fruition.

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No transparency, no process and the exclusion of their Coalition partners and the Taoiseach – was it somehow too important for ordinary democracy?

The original plan was for a special envoy for LGBTQ rights. That didn’t happen. But special envoy for freedom of opinion and speech – that job must have seemed tailormade for a politician who was always on the side of the angels.

Through 10 days of controversy she held her counsel as each fresh statement from Fine Gael was a fresh mistake and Varadkar and Coveney handed a moral victory to Sinn Féin and the Opposition. No transparency, no process and the exclusion of their Coalition partners and the Taoiseach – was it somehow too important for ordinary democracy? Coveney's pronouncement that the appointment would "provide enhanced capacity for engagement on Irish human rights priorities" conveyed the impression of some cold war weapon.

That the public was not immediately exercised by the controversy was probably down to the subject matter of the special envoyship. Who cares about freedom of opinion and expression when the sun is shining and the Olympics are on? Belarusian athletes perhaps? And people living in Latin American dictatorships?

After all, it wasn't Golfgate, was it? And then suddenly, it was Golfgate. Or a sort of proxy Golfgate. At any rate we had an "Event". At a posh hotel – even better. An event is much more productive for righteous indignation than freedom of expression. Public faces in private places; names (the elite naturally), numbers (excessive hopefully), restrictions (ideally breached perhaps). Leo Varadkar confessed he was there. Fragrant, radiant Ivana Bacik said she had "dropped in".

And then the real angels got embroiled. It's a long time since we have felt the belt of a crozier, but Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell didn't hold back. We can have political garden parties, he thundered, but no Holy Communions. He has a point. And it just might come under freedom of expression and "Irish human rights priorities".

But Katherine Zappone is gone. And just once wouldn’t you wish that the truism that all political careers end in failure were not true.

If Fine Gael have mentally ditched their Coalition partners, they do so at their peril

A perfectly natural desire not to leave the stage on which she has done some service, and a shrewd identifying of one of the many obscure patronage jobs at the Government’s disposal (where the money is small but the access is big), do not constitute wrongdoing.

In her long career as a feminist, Katherine Zappone has never presented herself as a victim – not even in her long battle against the system for recognition of her same-sex love. But in this instance, she has been sinned against.

It might be facetious to say she flouted Machiavelli’s rule and put her trust in (merchant) princes. But the tragedy is she has been victim of the Fine Gael leadership’s arrogance and irresponsibility. An arrogance and irresponsibility which may end up having dire consequences for us all.

Because the bigger vice in this whole sorry episode was the contempt shown towards Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil – and by extension the electorate.

Everybody knows the Sinn Féin populist hurricane is building, but Leo Varadkar is sleepwalking into it

If Fine Gael have mentally ditched their Coalition partners, they do so at their peril. The most recent Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll shows Sinn Féin at a record high with 31 per cent support from likely voters. But the poll also shows that the public's preferred form of government is the current one, which is more popular than at the time of the last election.

It's not a big leap to deduce that the majority believes this kind of coalition is the only way to avoid a government with Sinn Féin in charge. Because despite the party's unprecedented popularity, many fear the huge Sinn Féin monolith, with its populist politics and unabashed support for Venezuela, Cuba and other dictatorships with no freedom of expression.

Everybody knows the Sinn Féin populist hurricane is building, but Leo Varadkar is sleepwalking into it, building no defences, the most important of which would be relations with Fianna Fáil.

This kind of carelessness leaves a political wasteland. Katherine Zappone was dropped into it. Who else will be?