Odd, how neither a former taoiseach nor a former tánaiste thought to mention to the current Taoiseach that Katherine Zappone was lined up for a little number in the UN. Its not huge money or a full-time position, but its the type of gig that would certainly open doors in the Big Apple for a New York-based former Irish senator, TD and minister.
At this stage in their senior Government careers, Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney should know the importance of maintaining full transparency when handing out jobs to people with whom they once shared a ministerial minibus to the Áras. But Zappone landing that job for which she would seem eminently qualified was a case of pure serendipity.
They say the woman who served in government with them before losing her seat at the last election was simply the right person in the right place at the right time, when Coveney and the mandarins in foreign affairs decided they needed to appoint a UN special envoy for LGBTQ rights, freedom of expression and whatever youre having yourself.
It appears at least one member of Cabinet somehow managed to steal a minute to sneak a word out to media contacts about Katherines new job
Katherines first mission will be to put pressure on the Government to reform Irelands punitive defamation laws, which seriously inhibit free speech and are widely seen as among the most oppressive in Europe. No, it wont. But never mind. Its still definitely not a makey-up job as a very annoyed Coveney fumed on Friday when challenged over the background to the appointment.
As Minister for Foreign Affairs, he knows best. At least thats what he told RTÉs Bryan Dobson. According to the main players apart from Katherine, who doesnt attend Cabinet and did/did not approach her erstwhile cabinet colleague and put/did not put herself up for a role which was/was not especially created for her, although nobody else was even considered ratifying this appointment was a minor item which surfaced briefly during a particularly packed end-of-term Cabinet meeting.
Did Micheál, Leo and Simon mention how packed it was? Micheál Martin on Wednesday: Ah no, lookit, look. Were coming through a pandemic. Theres 41 items on that agenda, some very substantive items, the most ambitious capital programme in Europe agreed by the Cabinet last week… Thats the real meat of yesterday, you know.
Leo Varadkar on Wednesday: Why did it not happen? There were 46 items on the agenda of much greater importance.
Simon Coveney on Friday: It was unfortunate because we had a Cabinet meeting this week with a very, very long agenda. I dunno, there was about 60 items on the agenda.
Any advance on 60? So we know it was a busy meeting. But it appears at least one member of Cabinet somehow managed to steal a minute to sneak a word out to media contacts about Katherines new job. Journalist Danny McConnell tweeted the news while the Cabinet was still in session. Breaking: Former Minister Katherine Zappone to be appointed special envoy for freedom of expression, Cabinet approve proposal brought by @LeoVaradkar. Will be paid post with international travel.
The political gossip since Tuesdays Cabinet leak is revolving around the delicious notion that Leinster House now has its own Arthur Conan Dáil or Coleen Rooney
Good going there by the Irish Examiners political editor. His tweet was posted at 1.10pm on Tuesday. As the meeting in Government Buildings ran for another 30 minutes, TDs concluded the information had to come from within the Cabinet room, raising suspicions across the Government parties as to the identity of the squealer. Because the leak pinpointed the Fine Gael leader as the one who brought forward the memo (which he didnt) and as the circumstances of the appointment immediately stirred up trouble for Varadkar and his deputy Coveney, the finger of blame initially pointed in Fianna Fáils direction. However, this may not have been the case. (Nobody is implicating the Greens, obviously.)
Locating the leaker became the talk of FF and FG. And very soon, a story emerged to rival that luminous social media mystery from 2019, involving footballers wives Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy.
Rooney (wife of Wayne), was dubbed WAGatha Christie after she allegedly caught fellow WAG, Vardy (wife of Jamie), feeding information from her private Instagram account to the Sun newspaper. She set up her own sting operation, blocking everyone but Vardy from viewing her posts, even going so far as to invent stuff about her life with wandering Wayne. Then she waited to see if this would land in the tabloids.