On the surface, it may not have seemed like Leinster House was celebrating the Chinese New Year on Tuesday.
This is not true.
It is the Year of the Fire Horse.
And in the canteen, staff fired out Shrove Tuesday pancakes faster than dumplings in a dim sum restaurant, and everyone horsed into them.
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A fitting tribute.
In the Dáil, they must have been delighted to see the back of the Year of the Snake, as familiarity breeds contempt.
But they will be looking forward to 2027, which is the Year of the Goat.
The less said about that, the better.
In the chamber, it was the Afternoon of the Ox (and sheep and other ruminants) as the Dáil debated the outbreak of bluetongue virus in parts of the country.
Martin Heydon, the Minister for Agriculture, told the few TDs present that infection has been detected in five cattle herds in Wexford since late January. Another case surfaced last week in an animal “which had been in a number of counties during the possible infection period”.
Its current whereabouts has not been disclosed as investigations are ongoing.
“First and foremost,” said the Minister, “I want to assure you that there are no public health risks associated with bluetongue. Bluetongue does not affect human health or food safety, and meat and milk are safe to eat and drink.”
This is reassuring news, particularly as a “bovine” possibly harbouring the virus has recently been on tour around unknown locations.
It’s reminiscent of that time during the Covid travel restrictions when Big Phil Hogan came back from Brussels and visited golf courses around the country before pitching up in Connemara for the Oireachtas Golf Society’s annual president’s prize.
He didn’t win the Golfgate competition, but he did win a George Foreman grill in the raffle before resigning (in rude good health) as EU commissioner for trade amid blazing controversy over his trip.
But back to the Afternoon of the Ox, which was enlivened by Sinn Féin Agriculture spokesman Martin Kenny’s smile when one of his colleagues twice referred to “Bluetooth” while reading out her speech.
Earlier in the afternoon, during the first Leaders’ Questions of the week, a word more commonly heard during agriculture questions was used by two Opposition speakers who were furious over mooted changes to the system for allocating Special Needs Assistants to schools around the country.
The Taoiseach called it a “review”.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Ruth Coppinger of Solidarity declared it a “cull”. Along with numerous other contributors, they were in no doubt that the plan amounts to a cut in the numbers of SNAs currently assisting children with additional needs.
As part of an ongoing review by the National Council of Special Education, 200 schools have been told they will lose some of their SNAs in September. The letters sparked a furious reaction from worried parents and teachers, who took their concerns to their local TDs.
Opposition Deputies rallied immediately to their defence, while Government politicians who have been getting it in the neck from angry constituents listened uneasily from across the floor.
The Dáil was due to start proceedings this week at 2pm on Tuesday.
In the hour before the Opposition assault on the Coalition for causing panic and upset among people who deeply value what SNAs do for their children and families, word came through that the Minister for Education had “paused” the review until the many concerns expressed in recent days are understood and children with special educational needs are fully supported.
The Government’s opponents welcomed this “U-turn”.
U-turn? Certainly not, according to the other side. Rather, it’s a heartening sign that Hildegarde Naughton is a Minister who is willing to listen and change course if necessary.
Micheál Martin wasn’t going to let Mary Lou McDonald talk about his Government “pulling the plug” and “ripping apart” a system upon which schools and families have come to depend upon over the years.
“Take the plan off the table,” she told him.
Well, really. Did she not know who she was talking to?
“First of all, just to give you a bit of background,” said the Taoiseach. “I was the minister for education who first introduced Special Needs Assistants to mainstream schools for children with special needs. I don’t need lectures from you in terms of the value and the importance and centrality of Special Needs Assistants to children in our schools…”
Since then, he watched it “grow from almost nothing” to where it is today, with almost 25,000 SNAs now operating, and more to be appointed.
No jobs will be cut, he insisted. Where Mary Lou McDonald sees cuts, he sees expansion.
Tell that to the parents in those schools which have been told they will lose SNAs. Deputies from all parts of the country were queuing up to tell the Taoiseach to scrap the review.
Fianna Fáil TDs would be telling him the same thing, in no uncertain terms, at the parliamentary party meeting that night. Their colleagues in Fine Gael were on the same page.
In the Dáil, Micheál conceded that the manner in which the letters were sent out to schools announcing they would be losing SNAs was not great, and he understood how they would cause such concern.
Mary Lou accused him of being out of touch.
On the first day of the Year of the Horse, he bridled. “I’ve been working on this all my political life and I will continue to work all my political life on special needs education.”
But for all his undoubted good work in the sector, the handling of this latest review meant he ended up enduring the Day of the Pig’s ear and Dog’s dinner too.
