Paul Hosford: Refugee policy row draws attention as Coalition enters its final 16 months

The tripartite agreement had sailed along with little threatening to take it down, but this week’s row about the duration of State accommodation for Ukrainian refugees represented a challenge

Leaders Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin, and Eamon Ryan had presented a united front. Picture: Julian Behal/PA

When this Coalition came to power in 2020, there were some who believed it would last as long as a covid-era isolation period.

Three parties, a rotating Taoiseach, and the complexities of a global pandemic were pointed to as reasoning for this, and a summer in which two Cabinet members lost their jobs, while the reopening was stop-start, did little to convince people otherwise.