No private jets for David Miliband!

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband put the Irish Cabinet to shame this week - by flying into Dublin for a formal meeting with his Irish counterpart on a scheduled commercial flight.

Miliband, tipped to succeed Gordon Brown as leader of the British Labour Party, was in Dublin on Wednesday for meetings with his Irish counterpart, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin.

But instead of flying over on a private, military or Government jet, Miliband joined the general commuters on a scheduled BMI flight from London.

This isn’t the first time that a British politician has ignored the trappings of power by using commercial airlines to fly.

In 2006, former Prime Minister Tony Blair used a Ryanair flight to travel on holidays to Italy with his family.

Meanwhile, a mix up on board the flight to Dublin yesterday resulted in David Miliband arriving into Leinster House wearing a complete stranger’s jacket!

“There aren’t many British Foreign Secretaries that have come to this House (Leinster House_ and say they want to say very clearly and loudly through the Irish press – Thank you Mr Collins,” Mr Miliband said.


“I need to say ‘thank you Mr Collins’ because as I got off the BMI flight, I got off with someone’s jacket and someone else had my jacket. So I arrived at this building (Leinster House) earlier today with a jacket that didn’t match my trousers,” he added.

“During the meetings I was having, my own jacket was returned. The amusing thing was when I reached into the jacket that I’d been given and pulled out the ticket, it was in the name of a Mr Collins.”

“So it was a rather amusing post-script,” Miliband said.

He had a series of meetings with Minister Martin, the Foreign Affairs Committee and opposition party leaders.

While a wide range of issues were discussed, the forthcoming Lisbon 2 referendum was the main topic of discussion.

“The eyes of Europe will be on Ireland in October. The Lisbon Treaty is good for Europe and you will have to decide if it is good for Ireland.”

He said if the Irish electorate reject Lisbon for a second time, the entire European political system reverts back to the Nice Treaty – which means that the number of Commissioners would be reduced.

With Lisbon, he said, Ireland would be guaranteed a Commissioner. Without Lisbon, there is no such guarantee.

“If we do not have the Lisbon Treaty, we will return to the institutional wrangling which has been the enemy of European progress over the last number of years,” he said.

When asked if, in the future, his next meeting with Micheal Martin would be as heads of state of their respective countries, both Mr Miliband and Minister Martin laughed.

“I have great admiration for Micheal Martin. But if you start thinking of other people’s jobs, you are not focusing on your own job,” he said.

Pearse sets his sights on a seat

It seems that Sinn Fein is fully loaded and ready to fight - for the next by-election at least.

We have hardly had a chance to breathe since the last two by-elections in Dublin Central and Dublin South, and now the Shinners are anxious to strike while the anti-government sentiment is right in Donegal.

Because Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher was elected to the European Parliament last month, his departure to the tasty gravy train of
Brussels politics leaves a vacancy for a new TD to replace him in Donegal South West.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen knows that this by-election is looming in the future but the odds are that he will put it to the back of his mind for as long as is humanly possible.

So back to Sinn Fein - the party’s dapper Senator Pearse Doherty is gagging at the bit for a run at a seat which he could easily win if the by-election were to be held sooner than later.

Yesterday (WED), the party’s Dail leader Caoimhghin O Caolain published a motion on the Dail Order Paper on behalf of the Sinn Fein TDs calling for the writ to be moved for the holding of the by-election in Donegal South West.

Doherty is a good performer within the Seanad and is a man with his sights set as a career politician.

He ran for Sinn Fein in the 2007 general election and polled exceptionally well - however the final seat escaped him despite his healthy vote.

With anti-Government sentiment still boiling over following the local elections, the time could be right for Doherty to win the seat in a by-election.

Young FF-ers kick off the summer

The summer is here and our politicians are this week are preparing for their exodus from the national stage for their holliers.

But there is no such slacking within the ranks of Ogra Fianna Fail - the organisation is preparing for its first ever Summer School which will be held this weekend.

The ‘official policy conference’ will be held in the City Hoel in Derry on July 4 and Ogra has even threatened that there will be
appearances from senior political figures from across the island.

So just who are these ‘senior political figures’ who are giving up their weekend to help out the youth wing of the party?

There will be Eamon O Cuiv, Dara Calleary and Margaret Conlon - none of whom could realistically be considered ‘senior political figues’.

The only ‘senior political figure’ of any note who is penciled in to attend is the leader of the SDLP Mark Durkan.

Must try harder, me thinks!

Fine Gael really is Newborn!!

It is no wonder that Fine Gael support has been rising consistently over the past while - it is all down to newborn members, quite literally.

There is a bit of a baby boom going on within the ranks of the party of late with not one, not two, not three, not four - but five baby announcements within the party.

First off, congratulations to the Dail’s only married couple - Fine Gael’s Olywn Enright and her hubbie Deputy Joe McHugh - who are expecting their first bundle of joy at the end of October.

Then there is Meath TD Damien English, who’s wife Laura is expecting the couple’s first child in October.

It will be a September date for Denis Naughten and his wife Mary when they welcome baby number three into the world.

Already getting used to the night feeds and the nappies are Fine Gael’s Joe Carey and his wife Grace, who’s newborn daughter Alma May is the apple of their eyes.

Joe can compare notes with his party colleague Simon Coveney who also recently became a daddy when his wife Ruth gave birth to baby Beth.

Congrats to all - at this rate we can already see the new political dynasties forming!

Jolly Green Junior Minister

Minister for Vegetables Trevor Sargent is at it again.

And this time he reckons he has solved the mystery that has baffled parents for generations - how to get their kids to eat their greens!

The Jolly Green Junior Minister believes that if kids are encouraged to grow their own vegetables, they will be more inclined to eat their own vegetables.

Be careful what you wish for Trevor - the Greens are almost a protected species at this stage!

Snip Snip

Some weeks ago, this column praised the work of the contributors to the political website politics.ie for their light-hearted look at political anagrams.

And with An Bord Snip Nua so much in the news this week - here is another one for you!

An Bord Snip Nua is an anagram for ‘Darn Pain Bonus’ or even ‘Ads Pain Unborn’!!!