Leo’s annual welly outing KO’d by Storm Ali

It would have been a nice coupling - Leo Varadkar giving it welly down in Screggan and then going over to Salzburg and giving it welly on Brexit and the backstop and the Border and all that.

But the adverse weather warnings (and Storm Ali) put paid to his early morning visit to the Ploughing Championships near Tullamore before flying over to the Austrian city for a two-day informal summit of EU leaders.

A number of key issues will be discussed. For the Irish contingent the obvious one that is writ large is Brexit.

If you are looking for the modus operandi of Varadkar in the EU, funnily enough it is two former Fianna Fáil taoisigh who come to mind. The first is Bertie Ahern who went out of his way to meet other European leaders on a one-to-one basis. Varadkar has done the same - he has actually had two bilateral meetings with Austrian prime minster Sebastian Kurz, who is seven years younger.

Miriam Lord: Michael D outshines dragons on ploughing fields of Screggan

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Deal or no deal? The countdown to Brexit starts here

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Peter Casey willing to spend up to €750,000 on presidential campaign

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Dragons’ Den panellist Peter Casey likely to secure presidential nod

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The second is Varadkar, as Taoiseach, has been a fan of Albert Reynolds’s practice of being a “one-sheet man”. While never quite reduced to one sheet, Varadkar likes concise summaries of policy positions and talking points that will allow him quickly get to the core of the issue and make cogent arguments.

Pat Leahy has an excellent summary on the developing arguments on resolving the Border issues as well as a timetable of the major events we should see between now and March 29th, starting with the Salzburg meeting.

The circus returns to town

Meanwhile, at home the Dáil had a relatively boisterous return after the summer break with a heated row over the closure of 159 post offices, accompanied by protests and placards outside the gates.

There were also accusations the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill - which will bring in a raft of new restrictions on the sale and advertising of alcohol - is being slowly suffocated by the Government.

The Taoiseach promised the Bill, which has been subject to a ferocious lobbying campaign, would be reintroduced next week. Marie O’Halloran’s report on the debate is here.

Interestingly, one of the big ‘initiatives’ to deal with the housing crisis also seemed to have bitten the dust yesterday when a report by Indecon consultants concluded a vacant residential property tax would not be an effective response to deal with the housing shortages.

One piece of good news for the Government was that the Bill to repeal the Eighth Amendment was signed into law. It paves the way for abortion legislation to be introduced in the Dáil in early October. That Bill forms part of a big programme of legislation published by Chief Whip Joe McHugh.

But, as always, the ambition is never matched by performance - 21 of the 39 Bills on the priority list for autumn have been hanging around since January.

Can three dragons match fire of Higgins?

As we report this morning, Peter Casey has made it through to the ballot paper for the presidential election, winning the backing of four Munster councils in the space of 24 hours.

It means that with a week to go before nominations close the number of possible permutations has narrowed down considerably. As of now there are still six councils in play so another individual - most likely Gemma O’Doherty - might just have a chance to squeeze in.

O’Doherty’s difficulty is her message has been contentious and has not gone down well with some councillors. That said, she did comparatively well in Kilkenny and Tipperary. She might just sway a nomination, but I’d say it is marginal.

The other possibility is to get the backing of 20 Oireachtas members. Roscommon Independent Michael Fitzmaurice says this is possible, but it is very difficult (despite Herculean efforts, David Norris was unable to get 20 backers in Leinster House in 2011).

“I’ve never run away from a campaign in my life, for goodness sake,” Michael D Higgins declared yesterday. The campaign has not officially started yet, and the President has not declared, but he had a very busy pre-campaigning day in Screggan yesterday, getting far more crowd attention than the three other candidates there.

What kind of campaign should we expect? Given the powers of the President are limited, the speeches and ‘visions’ of the candidates tend to be on the bland side. But the views and wherewithal of all the candidates tend to be scrutinised brutally.

Already we see the kind of issues that will come up. The PAC might convene a meeting next week to see if it can examine Áras expenses in the light of claims made by Senator Gerard Craughwell about the President’s hotel arrangements in Geneva earlier this year.

Already there have been mentions of Peter Casey’s views on neutrality and defence spending; Liadh Ní Riada’s views on the HPV vaccine; Senator Joan Freeman’s conservative views on some issues, and President Higgins’s age, as well as his undertaking to serve only one term. They are the kind of issues that will come up.

When Gavin Duffy got the nod last week, we expected him to be the last. Casey’s success was a bit of a surprise. Will there be another? We just don’t think so, but councils have surprised us before.

Best Reads

Miriam Lord at the ploughing - exquisite writing on the President's appearance. She has got him off pat.

Bryan O'Brien'svideo on the President's stand-up interview at the ploughing.

Our editorial on the Presidential race.

Duncan McDonnell has a fascinating piece on the lessons Swedish politics has for the three big Irish parties.

Paddy Smyth examines the debate on the Brexit backstop.

Playbook

Dáil

10.30: Parliamentary Questions for Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross.

12.00: Leaders’ Questions

14.50: Private Members’ Business (Fianna Fáil) Motion re. Bus Connects

16.50: Statements on the Scoping Inquiry into the CervicalCheck Screening Programme.

Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2018.

Seanad

14.30: Commencement Matters

15.30: Order of Business

16.45: Children’s Health Bill 2018.

18.00: Private Members’ Business: Motion re Post Offices

20.00: Mental Health (Renewal Orders) Bill 2018.

Committees

9.00: Justice Committee beings pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the 38th Amendment of the Constitution Bill with Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan, the National Women’s Council, the Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission and Dr Laura Cahillane, School of Law, University of Limerick.

9.00: Joint Committee on Health. The development of clinical guidelines in light of the impending introduction of abortion services in Ireland with representatives from the Medical Council, the Irish College of General Practitioners, and the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Session 2: The licensing of abortion medication in light of the impending introduction of abortion services in Ireland with representatives from the Health Products Regulatory Authority.

14.00: Select Committee on Budgetary Oversight. Meeting with representatives from Irish Fiscal Advisory Council to discuss its pre-Budget statement.