Murphy’s next move, and that of his former party, will be interesting

There is now a meeting of minds between Trotskyist TD Paul Murphy and a once neo-Thatcherite Leo Varadkar. They embraced the green agenda with gusto within days of one another. Leo went to the UN to trumpet a ban on oil exploration. Never mind that we have never brought a barrel ashore, and nobody knows how to explore for gas without finding oil if it’s there.

On big issues, it’s the big picture that counts. That probably explains why the civil service was blindsided by Leo’s barnstorm in New York. They’ll catch up, however. If the Taoiseach was the stuff of grand gesture, Paul Murphy’s new group — it’s not a party — Rise is taking the systemic approach of eco-socialism. Essentially, if you take the science seriously, only fundamental change in our model of private ownership and production for profit will deliver on climate change.