Varadkar must surely be tempted to call a snap general election

Alison O’Connor believes he showed belated wisdom in not going to the country back in December. But all he needs at the moment is a valid, or valid enough, reason to throw us all into a general election campaign.

ON SHROVE Tuesday our Taoiseach tweeted a photograph of a pancake and a selection of fillings ranging from strawberries to chocolate sauce and a plastic juice-filled lemon. It was, he said, “the last treat before the Lenten fast begins” and that he was “looking forward to an uber healthy 40 days”.

Leo knows, as the rest of us do that Lent can be a time of great temptation, even when one is trying ones best to be good. In his case the biggest temptation must surely be to call a snap general election.