Stormy scenes with Captain Kirk at the helm

THE Taoiseach appeared dangerously out of his depth as the waves of crisis surged all around him.

Soldiers patrolled the corridors of Leinster House as the poorly paid ushers they were replacing massed at the gates in protest.

It was a surreal scene, but not nearly as bizarre as the Government’s evident belief it could sail through proceedings with barely an acknowledgement that half the country was under water.