General election - Timing is wrong

Considering that the latest opinion polls are showing Fine Gael has made electoral gains in the opinion polls, it must have been a great temptation for Taoiseach and party leader Leo Varadkar to hold a general election before Christmas.

The time of the election would, in many ways, have been predicated on what is happening in London, amid the acknowledgement that he and Tánaiste Simon Coveney have played a blinder in Brexit negotiations.

Yet the Taoiseach has told a cabinet meeting that there will not be a general election before Christmas.

Mr Varadkar told a meeting of Fine Gael ministers earlier yesterday that to hold an election now, while Brexit has not been fully resolved, would not be in the best interests of the country.

At a post-cabinet briefing, Mr Varadkar refuted speculation he was planning to call an election before Christmas, despite pressure from his frontbench and the Fine Gael parliamentary community, to do so.

His decision to hold fast is a sign of statesmanship. Whatever the outcome of an election, when it eventually happens, that should be acknowledged.