Forget 100 days, surviving the first ten is an achievement

Well, suffice to say there hasn’t been a honeymoon for the new Taoiseach. Perhaps it’s because governments usually take office hot on the heels of a general election, and are propelled along on the basis of public goodwill and support. In this instance, with twenty weeks between election and appointment, there has been no such goodwill – nor, in truth, did many people think this was the government they were electing.

In these early days the new government – or, at least, Fianna Fáil side – has struggled to communicate what might be different about the new regime. Part of the trouble with this is everyday teething: most of the new ministers haven’t yet appointed media handlers, and are too busy getting to grips with their actual jobs to start thinking about recruiting spin doctors. Of Micheál Martin’s five Fianna Fáil cabinet colleagues, only one at the time of writing has recruited someone to act as their spokesperson. It has been tough to start the hard sell.

There are also other minor practical things that the new Taoiseach’s team haven’t got on top of yet – it took several days for most of them to be equipped with email addresses, and some briefly lost mobile phone service as their bills were moved onto the government’s books. It has also taken time to build up some of the other parts of a spin doctor’s toolkit: in the previous era, if Leo Varadkar held a phone call with Boris Johnson, Ursula von der Leyen or Michel Barnier, the communications team would send a brief statement by both email and text message to political correspondents. Neither system has yet been resuscitated by Micheál Martin’s handlers.

The Fine Gael side appears to be in no rush to educate its successors on the tricks of the trade this way. Perhaps this is Varadkar’s team being gentlemanly; not wanting to tread on the toes of its successors, not wanting to upset the new pecking order and allowing Fianna Fáil to run government in whatever way they choose. Perhaps…

Either way, the first ten days in power have hardly been what Micheál Martin would dream of. There has been no grand plan to communicate the goals of the first 100 days, because there has been no ability to concentrate on them, with the milieu of other partisan controversies – either TDs complaining about their ministries (or lack thereof), MEPs showing up to the Convention Centre without undergoing the prospective self-isolation, or ministers revealing they have previously spent time off the road for drink-driving. Whatever about the first 100 days, the new government hasn’t been able to get on top of the first ten.

Leo Varadkar’s valedictory press conference two weeks ago had a sense of a book being closed – not only on his own premiership but also on the virus. Tony Holohan spoke of encouraging the public to avoid situations they thought were dangerous: if you came across a crowded pub or restaurant, think twice about entering, and go elsewhere. Surely if the authorities were telling you to avoid crowded pubs, they were acknowledging the prospect of pubs being crowded once again.

Given that, it’s hardly any wonder Martin has had so little to smile about. He has found himself now being the bringer of bad news: your sun holiday from July 9 can’t go ahead; there’s no refund for the flight you’re asked not to take; the pubs that stayed shut until July 20 might find themselves having to stay shut for even longer. It’s a tough beat.

The Taoiseach will hope the communications strategy has worked itself out by the time there’s some good news to announce.

Gavan Reilly is Political Correspondent for VirginMedia News and Political Columnist for the Meath Chronicle - read his full column every Tuesday in the paper