Sky cleared for Coalition ahead of European summits

This time last week the outlook was not good for the Coalition. As Dublin prepared to host a record number of world leaders, striking public sector workers planned a large-scale demonstration in the capital to coincide with their arrival.

Fuel protesters were also gearing up for a return to the streets while Government and gardaí sweated over the prospect of a further hybrid attack after last Friday's hoax bomb threat to several media organisations, including RTÉ.

A garda work-to-rule threw doubt over how the force would police the European Political Community and informal European Summit gatherings at the Convention Centre, while the events themselves were to be shorn of up to 350 staff owing to the public sector strike.

It was a bleak prognosis for what was supposed to be a red-letter day for the Government and Irish officials, as well as the high point of Ireland's EU Presidency and indeed, Micheál Martin's second term as Taoiseach.

But gradually, the sky began to clear for the Coalition.

White smoke emerged from the Workplace Relations Commission in the early hours of Wednesday morning that an agreement for a new public sector pay deal had been struck - averting a strike and a potentially embarrassing demonstration for the Government with the world watching.

Gardaí also abandoned their work-to-rule - bolstering the force for the largest policing operation in its history.

And so, a week on, Government and Irish officials are basking in the glory of what they felt was a very successful two days for Ireland - although Sinn Féin has dismissed it as "glossy showcase" of a prosperous nation householders are not familiar with.

Some Dublin businesses and commuters might also have different ideas.

A gargantuan security logistical and diplomatic operation over two years in the making welcomed 50 heads of state or government to the capital, with the Department of Foreign Affairs producing a total of 7,500 accreditation badges for the two summits for delegates, media and venue staff.

Two thousand worked at the summits while gardaí put in 15,000 12-hour shifts.

Some 553 delegates attended the meeting of the European Political Community gathering on Thursday while 352 attended on Friday, with delegations overall spending 1,000 bed nights in Dublin across 17 different hotels.

Eighty three interpreters were on hand over the two days, working in 23 languages.

Fifty motorcades accompanied the world leaders on Thursday with an average of three vehicles per motorcade, although countries such as Britain and Ukraine had additional security vehicles from An Garda Síochána.

Some leaders decided to walk to the venue on Friday as the fine weather added to the feel-good factor for Irish officials.

Planning was so detailed that there was also a secret back-up venue at the ready in case something went wrong, and that something could have been a security threat.

High-level discussions continued through last weekend in anticipation of further hybrid and cyber-attacks from bad actors - which also occurred in Denmark before it hosted the European Political Community summit last year.

However, questions around Ireland's security and military capabilities have lingered since the country assumed the EU Presidency, raising the stakes higher again for the Government.

Around 5,000 gardaí on the streets were buttressed by officers from Northern Ireland, Latvia and Portugal.

Foreign frigates were also spotted off the Irish coast as the country looked to fend off any maritime threat.

But while there were further hoax bomb threats, and a viable device found in Dublin's Merrion Square on Friday, the week passed without any major security incident.

"Ireland has once again demonstrated its ability to host major international events safely and effectively," said Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan on Friday night, alluding to the major policing operation also in place for Donald Trump's visit in September.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly expressed satisfaction, including in how the force carried out "a very challenging security operation" for Thursday night's meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US peace envoys at Baldonnel.

"Of course we had to get President Zelensky out there, we had to work out the timings so we would meet the two US envoys. We secured the location," he said, adding how the security operation included counter drones and sniper, close protection, and tactical teams being in place.

The arrivals of Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff at Casement Aerodrome put Dublin at the heart of the global political map. It was a full circle moment for Ireland's EU Presidency after its opening was dogged by concerns over the volume of exports to Russia from the Aughinish Alumina plant in Limerick.

While Ukraine officially hosted the meeting at Baldonnel, Irish officials and members of the Defence Forces helped arrange some of the finer points, with army provisions provided for the visiting media.

It was somewhat ironic that two visiting Americans somewhat overshadowed and gave the EU gatherings more urgency, but Friday's confirmation of Europe's negotiation team for US mediated peace talks with Russia means the leaders left the capital having agreed something tangible.

Front and centre for Ireland throughout was Mr Martin.

The Fianna Fáil leader appeared to savour Thursday and Friday's events, as he opened proceedings and greeted the visiting dignitaries on the red carpet at the Convention Centre. Having survived two days with US President Donald Trump in September, it is another international boon for Mr Martin.

At the beginning of the year, these summits were marked as the Corkonian's potential swansong as Fianna Fáil leader after 15 years - although he has always insisted differently.

A noticeable change in his language over the last 10 days that he would "fulfil his mandate as Taoiseach" raised some eyebrows within Fianna Fáil, while his hesitation when asked on RTÉ's Morning Ireland whether he would lead his party into the next general election set some tongues wagging in Leinster House on Thursday.

The following day, he was more emphatic.

"That's rubbish," bristled the Cork South Central TD when asked whether he had signalled his departure as Fianna Fáil leader next year when his party accedes the Taoiseach's office to Fine Gael as part of the Coalition arrangement.

"I will be contesting the next general election and I will be leading Fianna Fáil into the next general election," he added.

As the third longest-serving TD in the 34th Dáil, Mr Martin will be acutely aware of the political maxim that it is best to depart the stage, leaving the audience demanding an encore.

But one also imagines he and those close to him will have taken note of the troubles surrounding Fine Gael and its leader in recent weeks, amid scrutiny of the events preceding Minister for Communications Patrick O'Donovan's hospitalisation. After all, the Coalition partners are still sharp electoral rivals.

Events by the River Liffey may also pose some searching questions for the Government in the weeks ahead.

The presence of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday will likely fire up those opposed to the Coalition's contentious plan to remove the Triple Lock by the end of the year.

While the Dáil has already voted to remove it, Opposition to the proposal has not abated amid calls for a referendum on the matter.

Comments on Friday from the "Godfather of AI" Professor Geoffrey Hinton that humanity could be "toast" within three years if Artificial Intelligence keeps evolving will also focus minds.

"Just as the world came together to establish international agreements on nuclear weapons and human cloning, we now urgently need a binding a global treaty on AI to ensure humanity remains in control of this technology," said Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on AI Naoise Ó Cearúill yesterday.

Overall, Government and officials will bounce onto Merrion Street next week with a spring in their step.

Those involved in organising the event predict the Convention Centre will now attract more high-level events and their delegates to Dublin while pictures of Hungarian PM Péter Magyar sampling a pint of plain in a Dublin pub represent marketing money can never buy.

But when Dragostea din tei topped the charts in 2004, Ireland's high-profile EU Presidency was followed by a thumping for Bertie Ahern's government in local and European elections.

And the Opposition will by lying in wait in the Dáil next week to try bring the Government back down to earth when domestic issues return to the top of the political agenda.

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