And so the schedule for the summer has been hollowed out and all that remains is a husk. A few desultory Cabinet meetings until the end of the month and that’s it.
It was a frantic last week for the Oireachtas, with plenty of legislation being ramrodded through before the recess kicked in.
The most high-profile was the Occupied Territories Bill, which passed its 10th, and final, stage in the Seanad on Wednesday amid continued opposition and anger. Ellen Coyne captured the tenor of that final debate before the vote was taken and last-ditch attempts (doomed to failure) to include services in the legislation.
Andy Burnham elected as leader of the UK’s Labour Party
In the end, it was what we always knew it would be: a coronation. Once Andy Burnham announced he wanted to contest the Makersfield byelection, the die was cast.
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On Friday, he became leader of the Labour Party. On Monday he will meet King Charles, who will ask him to form a government. He will be Britain’s 59th prime minister.
We have mostly seen Burnham in T-shirt and jeans, and in running gear (it’s de rigueur for senior British politicians to be seen out pounding the pavements). But on Friday, he was wearing a sober suit and tie, looking very prime ministerial indeed.
Mark Paul has a fascinating piece about his image, his clothing choices and the young digital media wunderkind, Abby Tomlinson, responsible for his public profile on social media.
As Mark writes: “Other videos have focused on his propensity for wearing ’short shorts’ when he goes jogging past the media camped outside his house. He has made viral videos referencing memes of him being sworn in as an MP to the tune of the same Z Cars music that is the soundtrack when his beloved Everton football team walks out on to on the pitch. He has also held a competition to irreverently judge picture memes of his ‘Number 10 North’ proposal to set up a Downing Street operation in Manchester”.
Burham has already set out some broad themes to distinguish himself form his predecessor Keir Starmer: handing power to communities, being pro-business and (a recurring theme in modern politics) providing more social housing.
He has faced some flak about his plans to have a 10 Downing Street North presence in Manchester and in the north of England but defended it stoutly on Friday.
“This is a moment to speak for all parts of the country and unite people in a common cause,” he said. “I love every part of the country, all of the accents and different traditions and some of the football clubs. But I also feel they can be more than they are.”
He promised to “take power back from Westminster and Whitehall and give it back to the place where you live”.
Time, as always, will tell.
Trouble at Mill
To borrow a phrase from Burnham’s neck of the woods, that might be what’s in prospect for Aughinish Alumina.
Pat Leahy gave a good sense on Thursday of what might be in the Government’s much-anticipated report on the Limerick-based alumina refiner’s exports to Russia and whether these materials are being used to manufacture military weaponry.
Pat spoke to a number of senior sources familiar with the process and discovered that that possibility cannot be ruled out by the report. There may be some ambivalence in the language that ultimately emerges in that report, and it could be autumn before the matter is examined by the European Commission. It will have consequences either way.
The key line is that the report is expected to say it cannot rule out the possibility that Irish-produced alumina is ending up in the Russian military supply chain because of the lack of hard evidence.
This all stems from the work of The Irish Times Investigations Unit .
More Russian intrigue
Speaking of which, Conor Gallagher of the Investigations Unit has a fascinating report this morning, which suggests that Russian passport technology has made its way into Irish State agencies.
He reports that password manager Passwork purports to be EU-based but has extensive links to a Russian company licensed by Russia’s security service.
Something for the weekend
Miriam Lord is handing out her end-of-the-year gongs. Unmissable.
Pat Leahy’s column. Also in the above category.
Jack Horgan-Jones has a big read reviewing the Dáil term that has just finished.
I have a piece looking at the efforts in Ireland and in the EU to introduce social media restrictions for under-16s
And don’t forget our Inside Politics Wrap of the Week podcast in which we discuss whether it is ever okay for a political correspondent to wear shorts into work!
