Kenny ignores blot on the horizon to stabilise ground beneath his feet

There was an almost poignant synergy of circumstances evident as Taoiseach Enda Kenny looked out across Cobh harbour.

With a sound nod of assurance and a wave of his hand, he endeavoured to deal with the problem blotting the water in front of him. “Get this thing organised, whatever we have to do with that,” he said.

He summoned this authority after being told the frame of the old wooden pier, directly underneath the Titanic Experience, was decaying, unsteady, and needed stabilising.