It’s a long way from Mullingar to somewhere over the Rainbow

ENDA KENNY and Pat Rabbitte travelled to Westmeath last Monday to launch an agreement reached between their respective party members on the local county council.

The parties are now dubbing this agreement the 'Mullingar Accord'. Seldom has something so insignificant been given such a grandiose name.

The parties, and some breathless journalists, were heralding the event as some kind of baby shower for the birth of an alternative government.