Irish Examiner view: Baptism of fire for Taoiseach's diplomatic skills
Harris Simon Picture: Yesterday Visits Sánchez Information Government Service Spain's Pedro
Internally there were the customarily difficult problems of managing ministerial reshuffles. Attempts to staunch the flow of departing Fine Gael TDs could not be counted a success and his retention of Helen McEntee in the justice portfolio received a lukewarm reception, unassuaged by protestations that he has shown loyalty to a beleaguered colleague.
There was an unnecessary distraction over whether Mr Harris should have been using TikTok to broadcast from his office in Government Buildings, despite earlier warnings that the application was a security risk. And then another hostage to fortune was offered by a controversial absence in the Dáil for his first leader’s questions because he was preparing for an EU summit in Brussels and taking calls from international leaders including First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and British prime minister Rishi Sunak.
This allowed Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald to remind Mr Harris that his last words to the Dáil on Tuesday had been “let’s get to work” only for him to become a “no show” the next day. “He’s as láthair [absent],” she chided.
For a leader whose future will be decided on domestic policies such as housing, health, crime, and migration, Mr Harris decided to play his first hand most visibly in the area of international politics, and in particular with ringing declarations about the recognition of Palestine.
At a moment when the alarm bells are sounding about imminent conflict or war between Israel and Iran — the United States yesterday issued a travel warning to its citizens — we have declared firmly that Palestine must be acknowledged as a nation state.
Ireland’s policy does not depend on the full acceptance of the EU, says Mr Harris, although it is his preference, and that of the Tánaiste Micheál Martin, that it happens in concert with a number of other countries. Mr Martin said this week that he will bring a formal proposal on recognition to Government within weeks.
Ireland’s principal ally in the EU on the subject of Palestine is Spain, along with others such as Malta and Slovenia.
The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, was in Dublin yesterday for discussions over attempts to force the EU to assess Israel’s human rights obligations as a condition of their trade deal with the bloc.
“I believe the European Union must use all of the levers at its disposal,” said Mr Harris.
While Ireland’s focus and leadership has been greeted with approbation in the Arab world, it has been heavily criticised by Israel’s foreign ministry and in a forthright newspaper column by that country’s ambassador in Ireland, Dana Erlich.
While lamenting the withdrawal of her invitation to the Fine Gael ard fheis she said: “Any show of empathy or humanity expressed toward Israel has been bullied out of public spaces."
In choosing to pitch his tents early on foreign fields, Mr Harris has made a calculated political gamble which will be affected by any escalating war in the Middle East.
He may find that his diplomatic skills will be tested more fully sooner rather than later.
OJ Simpson, who died this week was a notorious celebrity created for the internet in an era before the internet really got into its stride.
All that changed 30 years ago when he sped away from the scene of the brutal killings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.
The pursuit of his white Ford Bronco on the LA freeways was broadcast globally. His subsequent, and surprising, acquittal for murder at a famous 11-month trial featuring showbiz attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr and friend and counsellor Robert Kardashian turned on the evidence of a racist detective and an ill-fitting glove.
In 2008, Simpson was sentenced in Las Vegas to 33 years for armed robbery. He was paroled in 2017 and spent the rest of his life playing golf and becoming a fantasy football commentator on X/Twitter. And perhaps reflecting on the fact that he was the first star of the “post-truth” world.
There will be Munster supporters, particularly in Cork, tempted today to go full Ronan O’Gara and declare “nous sommes tous Francais aujourd'hui”.
The city and county have enjoyed the company of ROG and his back-to-back European champions La Rochelle and the highlights on socials of them touring the countryside while ‘The Fields of Athenry’ plays in the background.
Top hotels, good restaurants, trad music, all precursors to a potentially thunderous encounter with Leinster in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup this afternoon at the Aviva Stadium, scene of what many critics believe was the greatest victory in the history of that tournament.
On that occasion last May the French recovered from going 17-0 behind after 12 minutes to secure an astonishing 26-27 win, and thwart Leinster’s quest for a fifth title.
Leinster have their own back-to-back winning coach, in the shape of South Africa’s World Cup mastermind Jacques Nienaber. And if anyone knows how to cope with forward power, which La Rochelle possess in abundance, it will be a Springbok.
The clash of heavyweights in showpiece matches comes at a time when there is increasing scrutiny over the rules of the game. The ex-international, now rugby commentator, Brian Moore highlighted what he described as “the move towards massive players and massive impacts” and cited Leinster as an example of exceptionalism in attempting to counter size with agility.
Does rugby want to be a game, he asked, which at the top levels is open only to the biggest and most powerful forwards, a trend which impedes the progress of smaller and developing nations and must inevitably result in bloated squads for professional clubs, some of which are already struggling to break even.
And there is an ever greater concern where players are being trained to play for only part of each match, with the consequent risk of increasing concussive impacts.
This is a key matter for the rugby authorities who are worried by the long-term health ramifications for players and the potential legal consequences.
World Rugby has announced the largest-ever study, with 1,300 games being reviewed and 200,000 tackles being scrutinised, to study the effects of lowering the tackle height in the sport.
At a community level variations in policy already exist. In England the legal tackle height is below the base of the sternum. In France and Italy it is below the waist.
In Ireland and the UK 190 matches are being examined, taking in the adult men’s and women’s game along with under-18 boys' and girls' rugby. Other countries are focussing on games as young as under-12s, university, and high school competitions.
Moore has his own radical suggestion to obviate the way the game is moving... restricting the number of subs, or banning them except for injury, thus forcing them to play for longer periods and “to shed bulk for aerobic capacity".
None of this will be at front of mind for Leinster against La Rochelle. But apart from a potentially thrilling match, we should be aware that there is a significant sub-plot playing out before us.