Enda and his hair-raising pals

Perhaps it’s his red hair or his boyish grin. Maybe it’s because he’s seen as the mouse that roared.

Maybe it’s just that Sarkozy and Juncker and Enda are all about the same height. But it was strange that not just once or twice, but three times the Taoiseach had his hair playfully ruffled by the French president and the president of the euro group at the start of last week’s summit.

Perhaps it represents progress for our Taoiseach. It’s less than a year since his ham-fisted lecture about his huge election vote — and treating as a trick the offer of a deal that would park the tax issue. He accepted it eventually.