With McDowell as Tánaiste, let’s wish Bertie the best of health

AS a phrase, it ought to be a harbinger of something good, but when new PD leader Michael McDowell said “the best is yet to come”, it sounded more like a threat than a promise.

When Bertie Ahern formally put his signature to the statutory instrument needed to appoint McDowell as Tánaiste, it seemed the Taoiseach didn’t know whether it was better to have him inside or outside the tent.

On RTÉ television news that evening, Bertie Ahern hesitated just before he put pen to paper, looked up at McDowell and said, with doubtful hope in his voice, something like: “In 30 seconds you’ll become Tánaiste”.