The fact that Fianna Fáil leader and Tánaiste Micheál Martin stated that Sinn Féin would not be the “first choice” of his party when considering options for a new government speaks volumes about the shadow thrown by the latter — and the widely held expectation that they will win even more seats in the next election in particular. 

This expectation was strengthened rather than weakened by Mr Martin’s suggestion that that election will not be a “slam dunk” for Sinn Féin, but other comments further underlined the practical difficulties those traditional parties will encounter when competing for votes with Mary Lou McDonald and her colleagues.

The inevitable misjudgements and errors which speckle any administration’s record leave government parties open to criticism that cannot be levelled at a party that has not been in power. 

That may explain, for instance, Mr Martin’s reference to Sinn Féin being “two-headed” on climate change; he added that they have “sought to play politics over the last three years of this Dáil term” with that topic.

The political realities facing a government dealing with climate change, however, surfaced in Tipperary this week also. Farmers protesting against changes to the nitrates derogation parked tractors and mounted a day-long picket outside Fianna Fáil’s think-in, and later there were “stern words” in a meeting between farming representatives and Mr Martin.

The nitrates protest shows how the broad challenge of climate change filters into a specific political conundrum. When a measure antagonises a group and mobilises strong resistance, the focus of that resistance is not an opposition party, obviously, but the parties with specific responsibility for that sector — those in government.

Mr Martin and his colleagues deserve credit for holding the line on the nitrates issue, all the while knowing that in the next election Sinn Féin may benefit at the ballot box from those farmers’ dissatisfaction.

Heartening helping hands

The death toll in last Friday’s earthquake in Morocco continues to rise. At the time of writing it had reached 3,000 but seems likely to continue growing as remote settlements, ruined by the quake, are searched for survivors.

Just as that news was sinking in, however, we learned of another punishing blow to northern Africa — a catastrophic flood in Libya which looks likely to outstrip the Morocco quake in terms of fatalities and damage. At least 10,000 people have been reported missing in Libya and it is estimated that a quarter of the city of Derma is under water.

All of which makes aid for the stricken countries all the more urgent, despite different challenges when it comes to providing that aid.

When Morocco indicated it would accept aid from Britain, Spain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, this was seen as a rebuff to France, which has ties to its former colony — and Morocco’s neighbour — Algeria. As a result of various separate disputes, Algeria closed its airspace to Morocco two years ago.

Libya, meanwhile, is still trying to recover from the 2011 uprising which deposed Muammar Gaddafi but led in turn to years of conflict between two warring regimes within the country. The collapse of public services as a result of that conflict means external aid is urgently required.

The international response, however, has been heartening.

The US, Egypt, Germany, Iran, Italy, Qatar, and Turkey are among the countries that have agreed to aid Libya while, encouragingly, France has pledged €5m in aid to Morocco. And Algeria has opened its airspace after the earthquake to allow humanitarian aid and medical evacuation flights to and from Morocco.

Ireland has also responded — the Government has pledged €2m to support agencies working to help survivors in Morocco and is expected to follow suit with Libya.

It is encouraging to see substantive aid being offered from so many quarters at a time of widespread conflict and tension.

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Irish Government to give €2m in emergency aid following Morocco earthquake

Donohoe’s grief

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe is regarded as one of our more competent politicians, with a strong record of achievement across a range of government departments.

In this week’s edition of The Ciara Phelan Podcast, he speaks emotionally and frankly about the loss of his mother Cáit last year and the effect it had on him.

“When you lose your last parent, there is a particular dimension to that kind of loss,” he said. 

“I really feel the absence of something that was very regular in my daily life and I really miss that and really feel the impact of it. And on a personal level, that has absorbed so much of me now.”

In discussing the impact of his mother’s passing, Donohoe has done the State some service, to borrow a phrase from a very different political context.

Acknowledging the effect of a close personal loss publicly shows others they are not alone in struggling to come to terms with such situations; it also strips away any sense of self-consciousness about such struggles.

Retaining his mother’s number on his mobile phone is a gesture many will identify with, while Donohoe’s candour may make others in positions of power less self-conscious about such gestures and unembarrassed by the depth of feeling involved.