Juno McEnroe: Public patience wearing thin now with virus and Brexit threats

In two weeks' time...

• there could be a dozen suspected or confirmed coronavirus cases in Ireland;
• we will be on the cusp of an EU summit which will assess Britain's latest threat of a crash-out Brexit;
• more than two months will have passed since the general election was called and government formation talks will have been underway for over a month.

Yet, in all likelihood some political parties will still be sitting around with policy papers and cups of tea, all the while closed to ideological compromises and, more importantly, working together to form a government.

We now must be reaching the end of the 'dancing at the crossroads' stage in government formation talks: every party or political grouping knows their rival's priorities; and the public's patience will inevitably wear thin in the coming days.

No Dáil vote for Taoiseach is planned for next week, nor is that likely to change. It is obvious that two of the three big political parties-Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or Sinn Féin-need to swallow their pride, do the business and form a stable coalition.

Sinn Féin says it will work with everyone, even though its election campaign and ongoing machinations continue to denigrate the other two parties and argue they are unworthy of office.

Fianna Fáil won't negotiate with Sinn Féin, arguing that the party's past as well as its policies are toxic.

Fine Gael also won't work with Sinn Féin and is frowning in the corner, with ministers and a Taoiseach insisting they have their eyes set on going into the wilderness of opposition. Leo Varadkar's party has, so far, on conceded to a one-day policy meeting next week with rivals Fianna Fáil.

Everyone is a loser whichever coalition option is selected. Even Sinn Féin, as it would suffer some backlash from voters down the line over coalescing with either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil.

For their part, the latter two must bury the hatchet with each other or Sinn Féin or face the wrath of the voters there is another election.

But the public may feel there are bigger issues at stake here.

The emergence of the first positive case of coronavirus on the island of Ireland on Thursday has significantly ramped up health precautions as well as public fears. Already big sporting fixtures have been axed and the likelihood is the virus will impact on everything from school hours to work practices to the economy in the coming weeks.

We have an acting government, but how long can caretaker ministers manage a health crisis?

The spectre of a crash-out Brexit has also reemerged with a bolshie Boris Johnson declaring he may collapse UK-EU trade talks in June if he can't wrestle a Canada-style deal out of Brussels. The fresh Brexit threat needs an Irish government at the talks — but a government with a mandate.

With no permanent guardian in power and amid health and economic worries, politicians be warned: the time for prevarication and posturing must end.