They say that in Shakespeare’s plays you’ll find the roots of
all other subsequent dramas. When the
bard was writing Romeo and Juliet and basing it in Verona, he cold have
hardly imagined how 4 centuries later Verona would be still on the tips of our
tongues. A play about how an unlikely alliance across the divide ended badly
for all concerned may have been a foretaste of the Wexford bye election.
Its likely that as Verona Murphy looks down from her balcony
to survey the scene she wishes that things may have acted out differently. In a
constituency where there is no Direct Provision Centre the main topic of the
bye election is her views on direct provision. Speaking on RTE’s This Week she
described herself as someone who likes going to funerals and then went on to
elaborate on direct provision and ISIS an opinion which she has subsequently
apologised and remarks she had withdrawn.
Verona Murphy at the outset seemed an ideal candidate for
Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar closely campaigned alongside her early on. Initially
she had intended to be a general election candidate however as events developed
and the bye election became inevitable Verona Muprhy became Fine Gaels’
candidate.
Her background as a spokesperson for Road Hauliers in the
middle of the Brexit crisis gave Verona
a profile from where she could
only build. And then something seemed to go wrong. Firstly Brexit was postponed once more and
the focus for the bye election campaign on all sides seemed to switch to local issues. As Verona was not a
councillor, this put her at a disadvantage.
She may have calculated that her remarks, which to be fair
to the local FG membership are not typical of their views would put her back in
the mix, especially with references to Oughterard. If that was her intention
they have badly misfired. Her remarks were not a one off but also repeated to
the Irish Times. The controversy has the potential not just to derail the FG
bye election campaign but also to introduce race and immigration into the
General Election campaign whenever that comes.
But Verona Murphy didn’t just turn up as a Fine Gael
candidate. She was courted by the FG’s movers and shakers. Presumably her views
on current issues had been discussed and fleshed out before she was unveiled to
the electorate. While she has questions to answer, she’s not the only one.
Someone somewhere in FG reckoned that this was acceptable and indeed electable.
When the dust settles Fine Gael members need to ask their own party whose idea
was it to run Verona Murphy, not once, but twice.
Or will she run in the coming general election? Could it be
a case of, to quote Shakespear "Give me now leave, to leave thee.”?
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