Foot in mouth... the peculiar stance of two leaders in waiting

FORMER British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan put it this way: “Events, dear boy, events.”

He was summing up how the best laid plans in politics and in life can go awry. For Brendan Howlin and Enda Kenny, Macmillan’s words may one day provide an explanation for why they didn’t achieve more in Irish politics.

But the term ‘events,’ on its own, doesn’t fully explain it. With each of these two would-be leaders, the events were of their own making. Even worse, both men compounded their difficulties by displaying the unprincipled side of their natures as they grappled with controversy. And not a little personal vanity as well.