Thursday is fast approaching and the Government is trying to get the good room in order.
Yes, Europe’s political top tier will be dropping in at the end of the week and everyone will have to be on their best behaviour.
The State’s best Waterford Crystal will be laid out, and the children forbidden from wrecking the place.
Perhaps with that in mind, a new public pay offer was tabled over the weekend.
Having threatened to make a scene when the esteemed visitors arrive, the unions have been presented with a cumulative 10.5 per cent over the next three years – with a larger increase proposed for those public servants earning the least.
The two sides were due to sit down this morning and it appears far from certain that a deal will be done.
Some union sources remain downbeat – and there has been unhappiness that the pay offer was leaked to the media over the weekend.
Simon Harris, fresh from his Fine Gael ardfheis rebranding efforts, is hopeful the 45 visitors – which will include not only EU leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron but also Nato head honcho Mark Rutte, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Canada’s Mark Carney – will enjoy their sojourn here without incident.
Good luck if you have any business in and around the Convention Centre on Dublin’s North Quays. A big security cordon is planned from early tomorrow morning until the various luminaries depart on Friday evening.
Inside the perimeter there will be plenty for the members of the European Political Community to be mulling over as they enjoy the hospitality.
What to make of Rutte’s “daddy” Donald Trump and his horrendous midterms? How much money and military support does Europe want to extend to Ukraine? And what to do about any suspicious drones we might spot out the window?
Harris is concerned about “bad external actors” causing a bit of a fuss and knocking over some of the ornaments.
When the Danes hosted the same event last year, a number of mysterious drones popped up close to airports and military bases.
Garda sources don’t think the three days of arrivals and chin-wagging will pass off entirely without incident. Hopefully any disruption will be of the minor-blushes variety – and nothing more consequential.
Speaking of creating a stir, the aforementioned Fine Gael ardfheis heard the Tánaiste outline his desire to penalise the long-term unemployed who refuse to engage with services.
Expect this to get a continued airing this week – with the Opposition describing it as a cheap soundbite and, as Sinn Féin’s John Brady put it, an example of “punching down”.
The Fine Gael’s leader’s other big noise-creating moment over the weekend doesn’t see him at odds with Sinn Féin. The party’s publication of its “blueprint” for a united Ireland, which was welcomed by Mary Lou McDonald, calls for a sovereign wealth fund to be established to help prepare for unification.
Among the other suggestions are that the inward investment bodies on both parts of the island come together and market the place as one and that a standing constitutional forum be established.
Unity is something that appears to be lacking on climate change.
Cop31 – the UN’s annual climate gathering – is on in Antalya, Turkey, this week and it kicked off this morning with a row about something or other – nobody seems sure. It started an hour late with no immediate explanation as to why.
Negotiators spent last night arguing about money – with developing nations pushing for more discussion on climate finance.
Expectations of anything substantive emerging this week are low – with wealthier countries preoccupied with the added costs that events in Iran and Ukraine have led to.
Speaking of Iran, after admitting his ill-fated military strikes on the country just might have had something to do with the right-old shellacking suffered by the Republicans, Trump has moved on to other ill-conceived endeavours.
Such as his offer to Dana White – chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) – to leave all that manly grappling behind for some verbal jousting instead in the White House press room.
Yes, Trump apparently envisaged White putting some reporters in a metaphorical rear-naked choke – before declaring it all to be a big joke. White visits Trump in Washington today – but that will be about something else, says the US president.
White, when asked about the job offer on Saturday, said he had plenty of other jobs.
Having watched the very public ordeal of the last press secretary Katie Zacharia – who quit after just five days – White may have asked himself whether he was perhaps safer hanging about UFC octagons than entering that particular arena.
