After his first one-on-one meeting with Angela Merkel in the chancellery in Berlin yesterday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was back in Leinster House in time to defend the Strategic Communications Unit against a Sinn Féin motion calling for its abolition.
His spokeswoman insisted he did not dash back to the Dáil for that specific purpose, but Varadkar nevertheless told TDs he is likely to ignore their motion calling for the SCU to be disbanded.
Between the controversy over the SCU and his ill-judged tale at the Speaker’s Lunch in Washington DC , it has been a rough few weeks for Varadkar and the Government. Conversations among Ministers and others at the apex of Government in recent days have been laced with talk of steadying the ship.
Sources say the Taoiseach himself is acutely aware that he messed up in Washington, and is now focused on getting back on track. Any attempts by others in private, sources say, to deflect blame for the Washington fallout to a media pack too keen to pounce are dismissed by Varadkar with an admission the fault was entirely his.
He was more sure-footed when talking Brexit and digital tax in Berlin with Merkel yesterday, and Derek Scally notes the Taoiseach even managed to charm the Chancellor with a few words of German.
But even Merkel, with her new grand coalition already proving harder to manage than in the past, is no longer the exemplar of dull competence for Varadkar to look to.
In a big read today on how Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are preparing for an election that most increasingly believe will take place before the end of the year, we note that acquaintances of Varadkar say he views 2018 in two separate compartments: everything up to abortion referendum day on May 25th, and everything thereafter.
It is always easy to overestimate the effect of passing controversies, such as those involving the SCU and the botched Washington speech, on the fortunes of political leaders. But the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution could shape Varadkar’s leadership more than any other issue since he assumed office last summer.
On that front, Sarah Bardon reports on the formation of a Fine Gael caucus for repeal.
The Bill to hold the referendum is expected to move to committee stage after a vote on second stage this evening, with May 25th moving ever closer. Any self-imposed period of calm is likely to be short-lived for the Taoiseach and the Government.
