Phil Hogan saw off all comers in Brussels last week without breaking a sweat. The travelling press corps from Ireland – mainly political correspondents – were more concerned with cronyism and the McNulty affair than anything to do with CAP or trade deals.
Once proceedings began, it quickly became apparent that it would be Phil’s day. Initial questions from the four main political groupings that would determine his fate (the centre-right EPP, the Socialists, the conservative ECR, and the liberal ALDE group) were not combative.
The Irish press got their fun when Hogan, in response to Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy, plucked a letter of congratulations from Carthy’s party colleague, NI agriculture minister Michelle O’Neill, to devastating effect.
While Carthy focused on legacy issues from Hogan’s career back home, Luke Ming Flanagan asked a pertinent question relating to the level of convergence payments the Irish Government has decided upon. Ming is an instinctive, natural politician, and is still being underestimated by many.
The appointment was a triumph not just for Hogan, but also for his key advisers, incoming chef de cabinet Peter Power and Dermot Ryan. Tom Tynan, a fellow Kilkennyman, was confirmed as the latest appointment to Hogan’s Brussels team.
Yates book launch
Even as Tom Tynan was being confirmed, he was among the large turnout at the launch of Ivan Yates’s autobiography. Entitled Full On, it’s the first time a former Minister for Agriculture has revealed all. Yates recounted that Tynan, who was his political adviser, once told him: “Ivan, you’ve got to remember that your popularity is directly dependent on the price of cattle in Tuam mart this week.”
Nothing ever really changes in politics.
Among those present were former department secretary Michael Dowling, who has just been appointed chair of Kerry Group. Leo Vardkar was the only member of cabinet visible, with Jim Bolger up from Wexford.
Phil Hogan saw off all comers in Brussels last week without breaking a sweat. The travelling press corps from Ireland – mainly political correspondents – were more concerned with cronyism and the McNulty affair than anything to do with CAP or trade deals.
Once proceedings began, it quickly became apparent that it would be Phil’s day. Initial questions from the four main political groupings that would determine his fate (the centre-right EPP, the Socialists, the conservative ECR, and the liberal ALDE group) were not combative.
The Irish press got their fun when Hogan, in response to Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy, plucked a letter of congratulations from Carthy’s party colleague, NI agriculture minister Michelle O’Neill, to devastating effect.
While Carthy focused on legacy issues from Hogan’s career back home, Luke Ming Flanagan asked a pertinent question relating to the level of convergence payments the Irish Government has decided upon. Ming is an instinctive, natural politician, and is still being underestimated by many.
The appointment was a triumph not just for Hogan, but also for his key advisers, incoming chef de cabinet Peter Power and Dermot Ryan. Tom Tynan, a fellow Kilkennyman, was confirmed as the latest appointment to Hogan’s Brussels team.
Yates book launch
Even as Tom Tynan was being confirmed, he was among the large turnout at the launch of Ivan Yates’s autobiography. Entitled Full On, it’s the first time a former Minister for Agriculture has revealed all. Yates recounted that Tynan, who was his political adviser, once told him: “Ivan, you’ve got to remember that your popularity is directly dependent on the price of cattle in Tuam mart this week.”
Nothing ever really changes in politics.
Among those present were former department secretary Michael Dowling, who has just been appointed chair of Kerry Group. Leo Vardkar was the only member of cabinet visible, with Jim Bolger up from Wexford.
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