Drapier had a rotten week. War has a way of diminishing the human spirit; so despite the April sunshine Leinster House was gloomy.
Being trounced by the old enemy at Lansdowne Road was a bad start, although the harm was taken out of that defeat by the friendly rugby victory of Irish parliamentarians over our UK counterparts played on the morning of the international in Old Belvedere. The score was 12-5 with Deputies Simon Coveney, Jimmy Devins, M.J. Nolan, and Conor Lenihan being among those who togged out for the home team.
Drapier spotted Fianna Fáil Senator Mary White (of Lir Chocolates fame) in the audience at the Sinn Féin Ardfheis at the weekend. The feisty senator was probably representing the interests of persons in Columbia, or the "Children of Lir", as they have become known.
The ardfheis itself sent out some hopeful signals for the reinstatement of the Northern Ireland institutions. Gerry Adams's long-awaited willingness to contemplate out loud a world without the IRA was worth hearing and bodes well for the return of the Taoiseach and prime minister to the North next week to do the business on the "acts of completion" deal.
Sadly the Shinners are still doing a "dance of the seven veils" in relation to their participation on the new Police Board. Five years on from the Good Friday agreement deputies are weary of the insatiable republican snag list of grievances for purposes of extracting more concessions. Time for the two prime ministers to call a halt.
Top marks all round for patience and personal commitment but frankly, the sight of two sovereign governments being led by the nose by the army council is neither elegant nor sustainable.
The Taoiseach is dead right that it would be preferable for the voters in Northern Ireland to go to the polls on May 29th in the benign context of workable institutions and a cross-party Executive capable of being formed. Drapier expects an Easter deal will emerge but not before a round of the usual "punishment meetings" at Hillsborough.
Further afield, the scale, ferocity and mounting civilian casualties of the Iraq war serves to put our own skirmish in Northern Ireland in perspective. Deputies on all sides are wobbly and tetchy about the course of the war. Short and snappy it is not.
And as civilian casualties mount vocal support for the war would be hard to find in these corridors. Tom Kitt dealt with the humanitarian aspects in both Houses and all parties united in a motion endorsing the aid effort to which Ireland has allocated €5 million so far.
Colin Powell's round of meetings with EU Foreign Ministers, including Brian Cowen, should be interesting.
Although still deeply divided about the war itself, surely the EU can unite in support of a central role for the UN in post-conflict Iraq. However, it is said that the Pentagon has something else in mind.
The Shannon issue will probably re-emerge as the war intensifies, although most deputies feel the Government took the wisest course in continuing the use of the facilities for the Americans on the basis that this does not legally constitute "participation" in a war.
Speaking of aeroplanes, Michael Smith, Minister for Defence, revealed that tenders are out for the new Government jet. There followed the usual bleating from the Labour Party, foolishly pitching the jet against the plight of people on hospital trolleys. Fine Gael's Dinny McGinley joined in the begrudgery by citing the costs of meals, wines, chocs, etc., on the existing jet.
This sort of debate diminishes the house, in Drapier's view. Anyone with a titter of wit knows how essential the jet is for Ministers to do their job - even more so in the context of Ireland building new markets in an enlarged European Union. Ireland's Presidency of the EU next year without a jet for ministerial travel would be a nightmare.
Joe Higgins TD managed to get front-page coverage by allowing himself to be manhandled by the gardaí during Wednesday's anti-war protest outside the Dáil. The crowd was far from peaceful and there was a nasty element sparring for trouble. The predictable demands from the loony left for an independent inquiry to investigate the Garda response was greeted with loud laughter from the majority of deputies.
Some deputies were surprised that the Government has decided to grant full labour market access to nationals of the EU accession states after May 2004. This means the nationals of these countries will no longer need work permits to work here in Ireland. Amazing how work permits are now a big item in the TD's workload. In 1999, 6,000 were issued. In 2002 the figure exceeded 40,000.
How many east Europeans will arrive post 2004 is unknown but Mary Harney expects that we will fill most of our immigrant labour needs from that quarter.
The week ended with a promise by the PD Justice Minister, Michael McDowell, to bring forward measures to keep our youngsters out of pubs, curb drunkenness and disorder and reduce opening hours. This follows the publication of a report by the Commission on Liquor Licensing. Drapier agrees that the demon drink is an awful man and wishes the Minister well in his plan to rid Ireland of drunken teenagers and rowdy corner boys. But past experience has shown that any tweaking of the licensing laws is notoriously difficult to deliver given the clout of the Licensed Vintners lobby within Fianna Fáil.
Speaking of which, there were similar mutterings from that quarter lead by Senator Eddie Bohan and Deputy Noel Davern, who are unhappy about the proposed law to ban smoking in pubs.
Davern's solution is to limit smoking to one-third of the floor space. The only problem is smoke floats rather than stands on floors! Yet another battle for the hapless Michéal Martin, who labours in the "perpetual Somme" of the Department of Health. Davern can and will foment revolt in the Fianna Fáil ranks. However, one expects we can rely on the squeaky clean PDs to "punch above their weight" on this issue as in every other.
Most people agreed that Deputy John McGuinness scored a spectacular own goal with his anti-PD outburst during the week.
Whether it was borne out of personal gripe or is indicative of wider discontent in the Fianna Fáil ranks is a difficult one to call. Ironically, because his remarks were in effect complimentary to the small party, it ruffled no PD feathers.