Week of weirdness in the freak show of Irish politics

IT was the Seven Dwarfs vs the Three Stooges, but it symbolised perhaps one of the weirdest weeks ever in Irish politics.

After Brian Cowen’s botched reshuffle stroke, the Cabinet was reduced to its constitutional minimum of just seven members and almost brought down completely by a would-be rebellion by the trio of pro-Government Independents over the Finance Bill.

Yes, self-proclaimed defenders of the people Jackie Healy Rae, Michael Lowry, and Mattie McGrath had not let out a peep at slashing pensions for the widowed, blind and disabled, but were outraged at attempts to bring tax self-assessments forward by a month.