The best bit in The Wizard of Oz was when the curtain was pulled back and we found that the mighty-sounding mover and shaker wizard was really just an ordinary mortal full of sound and fury, signifying very little.
The curtain has been pulled back good and proper in Dublin recently. Catherine Zappone, former Minister and good mate of Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney, was given a modest little job to lobby for the south of Ireland at the United Nations. Leo (’Trust me, I’m a doctor’) and Simon (‘I’m not a doctor but trust me anyway’) had the curtain pulled back when it was found that they had sprung Catherine’s little jobeen on Micheál Martin, clean forgot to consult him in advance, clean forgot to list the criteria for the job, clean forgot to allow other candidates to know about the job and try for it as well. And to cap it all, it seem Catherine had found time (and money) to organise a bash in the Merrion Hotel for fifty people, including Simon and Leo. “We checked with the hotel that it was all right, they said it was inside the rules and all” Leo or was it Simon explained.
I admit I exaggerate when I say the curtain on all this was pulled back. What we got was a corner lifted, a small glimpse of how things are done by the mighty and the good, as distinct from the rest of us. And to add salt to the wound, all this happened at a time when the Catholic Church was complaining that there were restrictions on Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies. As the Archbishop of Dublin said, it was OK to have a bash in the Merrion Hotel for fifty guests, but not OK to have a carefully monitored Confirmation or First Communion.
And in case you forgot, these people behind the curtain are our employees. We pay their wages. And yet at every turn, it appears, they’ve been codding us about how we really, really, really must abide by restrictions.
Nobody likes to be taken for a fool. The general public in particular detest it, and are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
And sure would you blame them?
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