They did arise and go down, and go to Lissadell

And a small Cabinet hold there, half-day, of waffle made . . .

As settings for Cabinet meetings go, this one was hard to beat. Add in the rich history of Lissadell House – social, political and literary, and the Government handlers must have been very pleased with their choice of venue.

The minibus arrived after noon and parked some distance from the big house, all the better to see the Ministers alight and walk that last bit of the way. Like ordinary people.

But first, the Taoiseach had to make his entrance. He shot down the steps and crunched purposefully across the gravel, barrelling along like Craggy Island’s Fr Jack on his way in to see the durty fillum.

Enda pointed this way and that for the benefit of the cameras before lavishly greeting his hosts Eddie Walsh and Constance Cassidy and manhandling them, and their children, into their own home.

There was a pleasing smell of wood smoke in the air. Maybe the Ministers were going to have a barbeque? As it turned out, the smokiness was from the fires inside. Constance – a bundle of energy – set them all yesterday morning.

Lissadell looked stunning, the great house nestling between two mystical mountains – Knocknaree (tomb of the Warrior Queen) and Ben Bulben – and Sligo Bay sparkling in the distance.

Enda knows a good photo when he sees one. “C’mon, get a shot,” he cried, looking towards the photographers.

Then the rest of the Cabinet (or those who had no excuse to dodge the three-hour trip) emerged, looking a bit tired. Heather Humphreys carried two large bags. She must have thought they were staying the night.

Just one Labour Minister travelled with the group. Alex White looked none the worse for his ordeal. Along with Michael Noonan, he was pencilled in to face the media before the Cabinet meeting in the first of two al fresco press briefings planned for the day.

Choreographed

This was very carefully choreographed. The perfect way for the Government to get nice coverage in a very beautiful setting while pretending they aren’t in full planning mode for a general election.

But Noonan – election stuff has never been his forte – let the cat out of the bag early on when stressing that property taxes are not going to be increased if Fine Gael are returned to power.

Meanwhile, the Tánaiste arrived under her own steam. She was rather giddy on a heady mix of WB Yeats and a bank of microphones waiting for somebody to use them.

She rushed over to tell everyone she used to holiday as a child in the area and then waxed lyrical about the Gore-Booth gals – Constance and Eva and all they did to advance the cause of women’s rights.

“I think anybody involved as a woman in politics in Ireland is conscious that this is the family home of Constance Markievicz and that she was the first woman elected to the then British parliament. She was the first woman cabinet minister so I’m very happy, as a woman involved in politics in Ireland, as the first woman leader of the Labour Party, to be standing in her footsteps.”

Then she name-checked her female colleagues at the Cabinet table, not forgetting the Attorney General, Máire Whelan.

Five women holding their own at a Cabinet meeting where men were still very much in the majority. What an achievement.

It had the man from the Daily Mail in a state of wonderment as he framed a question on Cabinet gender quotas with: "In light of the oestrogen charged atmosphere here today..."

Meanwhile, Constance Cassidy and Eddie Walsh, along with six of their seven children, made themselves scarce while the Cabinet met in their magnificent home.

Business done

The Cabinet meeting took most of the afternoon. Once the business was done, Joan and Enda took some journalists on a tour of the house. Joan seemed to be auditioning for a summer job as a guide, such was her knowledge of Yeats and the house. Enda wasn’t far behind her.

They were giddy with the spirit of the poet and their sumptuous surroundings.

Fine Gael met beforehand in the Billiard Room. Labour in the Bow room, setting for the famous Yeats’s poem, where:

“The light of evening, Lissadell,

Great windows open to the South,

Two girls in silk kimonos, both

Beautiful, one a gazelle.”

Joan Burton and Jan O’Sullivan – who was the gazelle?

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste had a private meeting in the “silk kimono room” as they both described it, giggling like teenagers.

Enda plucked a dusty leatherbound book from the shelves and began to read from it. Joan raced upstairs to talk about the paintings and furniture. We saw Yeats’s bedroom. He was a bit of an old goat in his day.Enda and Joan got very giggly.

They are very united, they told the media. Solid as a rock. It’s all about stability. They were like an old married couple – Enda standing by, silently and patiently, as Joan talked and talked and we all wished we’d be eaten by the midges.

Then he spoke. “And despite all the cynics, Joan, who say that the old marriage, politically, is not working. We’re getting on well together . . . there’re always tensions in every house and you know, these things are overcomable . . . so you could say that the second horizon is on the horizon.”

Joan blushed. “Myself and the Taoiseach met somewhat earlier in what I’m reliably told is the boudoir upstairs,” she trilled.

“Our marriage is not on the rocks,” declared Enda.

"We're still talking, " gurgled Joan, who was moved to quote from Sailing to Byzantium.

“What did it say?” she mused. “The young in each others arms...”

Enda stepped back, startled. Too much information, gasped the assembled throng.

Joan collected herself.

“Let’s not carried away!”

They’ll leave that for the election.