The Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar is credited with the legend: “We write our names in the sand: and then the waves roll in and wash them away.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris may have found a meaning in the quotation, should he have been perusing the classics late last night.
After all, political journalists have been plaguing him for weeks about the timing of the General Election campaign.
And then like Jupiter, the Roman god of the skies, Tánaiste Micheál Martin stole the Taoiseach’s thunder – just like Green Minister Roderic O’Gorman before him.
It was not supposed to be that way.
Harris’s ‘full-term’ pledge
Back in September in Tullamore, at a Fine Gael think-in, Mr Harris pushed back against speculation of a November election, reaffirming that the coalition he led would go “full term”.
When I pressed him if the election would take place in 2024 or 2025, he replied that everyone knew what full term meant.
The implication was up to February 2025 when, under the law, a general election had to be called as the Government’s term was up.
What Mr Harris wanted to make clear in early October 2024 was who would take that all-important decision.
The Taoiseach told journalists in Wicklow: “It is constitutionally my prerogative as to when to seek a dissolution of the Dáil… That’s something I take very seriously. It’s a judgement call that every Taoiseach has to exercise.”
So it was clear.
Or we thought it was clear until Mr Martin told the Inside Politics podcast that he would agree to an election in 2024 as long as key legislation, like the Finance Bill which underpins the Budget, was passed by the Oireachtas.
He said: “If it’s the desire of others is to do things earlier, we’d need to game that. And people would need to work through the timelines around critical pieces of legislation.”
Then the Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman decided he needed to let everyone know what he was thinking.
He declared to the media one bright October day: “I’ll be meeting with the two coalition leaders on Monday. What I’ll be saying to them is that I think we need to give clarity and I’ll be saying my preference is for a November election – 29 November.”
It was the first time that any of the three Coalition leaders had named a specific date – “friendly advice” which reportedly irked the Taoiseach, the person with the sole power to make the decision.
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Order restored
So now we had a likely election in 2024, according to the Fianna Fáil leader, and a polling day of November 29, according to the Green Party leader.
Some order was restored by late October when the three coalition leaders agreed on their electoral approach at their regular Monday meeting.
They announced collectively that the General Election would take place in 2024; the passage of the Finance Bill would be a priority; and consideration of that legislation would begin on 5 November.
What was left for the Taoiseach to announce? The day that the Dáil would be dissolved and the election campaign would begin.
By this point, opposition parties were getting very tired of the long-running saga, branding it as nothing more than a ridiculous charade.
The denouement came yesterday afternoon when Mr Harris tweeted that he would be on RTÉ’s Six One News.
A pulse ran through Leinster House, particularly given that the Finance Bill had passed both Houses of the Oireachtas by then.
Twinkle-eyed Tánaiste spills beans
Politicians wondered about the Taoiseach’s intentions: Would he dissolve the Dáil on Thursday morning, before leaving for an EU leaders summit in Hungary?
Or would he do the deed on Friday afternoon, and head directly from Dublin Airport to Áras an Uachtaráin to inform President Michael D Higgins as the Constitution requires?
But Mr Harris did not get the chance to surprise audiences with his decision.
A twinkle-eyed Tánaiste, albeit by a matter of minutes, spilled the beans first to Virgin Media evening news.
He said: “We’re looking forward to it [the General Election]. You can see people out and about already in terms of campaigning, but it will be [called] on Friday.”
A half an hour later, the Taoiseach officially announced his plan on RTÉ’s Six One News.
He said: “It is my intention to seek the dissolution of the Dáil on Friday, and I hope we have polling day on 29 November.”
The Taoiseach added: “There you go, clarity”.
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Clarity indeed – he had been gazumped by his coalition partners.
That said, there was little rancour at Leinster House last night among Fine Gael backbenchers – just a roll of the eyes at the Tánaiste’s move.
Maybe that is because something far more important is just about to happen.
The TDs are about to walk into an electoral battle this evening once the Dáil’s final session concludes at 18:18.
Like Roman gladiators entering the Colosseum – some of them will not be coming back.
