Publicity stunt gives food for thought

AS a visual metaphor for the rainbow alternative, the image of a bloated man in a blue shirt, draped in a tattered red cape and swaggering aimlessly in circles wasn’t, perhaps, the wisest.

However, Fine Gael and Labour had a new policy to launch and political dignity would not be allowed to stand in the way of an eye-catching gimmick.

Indeed, it was nice to see the two parties back together again after a couple of in which their seemingly endless love affair appeared to wither under the strain of Pat Rabbitte’s wandering eye — after he caught sight of the Government’s shapely new poll figure.