Blue shirts turn a shade of green at FG bash

LED by a pied piper, the party leader emerged from the Christmas soiree crowd to give a speech as Wolfe Tones’ front man Derek Warfield cranked out A Nation Once Again.

The leader in question was not Gerry Adams, or even Bertie Ahern, but rather one Enda Kenny the leader of that well-known republican party: Fine Gael.

Pinch yourself whilst expressing astonishment but the aforementioned event actually did happen. The Fine Gaelers added a tint of green dye to their blue shirts when the Wolfe Tones' leader and pals lashed out the rebel songs at their Christmas celebration.

Stepping up to the stage, accompanied by Tipperary's finest TD Tom Hayes, Enda addressed the gathering of a couple of hundred party loyalists and Oireachtas staff.

The Mayo man paid tribute to the late and great Jim Mitchell and spoke about the rejuvenation of the party, capping it all off with the news that 10,117 tickets had been sold for the party's national draw.

Admittedly, not everyone approved of the choice of act and there some murmurings of discontent and certainly a fair degree of surprise. It certainly wouldn't have happened in John Bruton's days as leader. There was, however, no sign of the former Taoiseach, who was on business in Brussels. But his one-time fellow traveller on the national question, Senator Brian Hayes, didn't appear dreadfully concerned.

Sadly, there was no karaoke machine present to show the words of the rebel songs, so the singalong rate was pretty poor. The last band in the world you'd expect to see performing at a Fine Gael bash was booked by FG Sligo-Leitrim TD John Perry, an old friend of Derek Warfield's. But Mr Perry was shrewd enough not to list the entertainment on the official invitation, instead citing: "Music by Back to Back and other special guest artists." Party sources indicated that the performance did not represent a lurch towards the republican wing, but was chosen for entertainment value alone.

And Deputy Perry wasn't the first Fine Gael TD to book the Tones for a gig. That accolade belongs to one Michael Lowry, who in his days as Tipperary GAA County Board chairman hired the band to play at the homecoming of the victorious Tipp All-Ireland winning hurling team in 1989.

Commentators who say that the political landscape changed dramatically in the past year are grossly understating the true state of affairs.