Fine Gael farce at Fota as bash turns into slap-happy event

Slap, bang, wallop — what a Fota farce.

As Fine Gael gathered at Cork’s swanky Fota Island Resort for their annual pre-Dáil “think-in” they should have been looking to the future, but after Enda Kenny decided to get a lunge into his ambitious Health Minister Leo Varadkar all the talk was of the problems of the recent past.

After receiving the highly unusual public dressing down from the Taoiseach, Mr Varadkar decided to take it on the chin.