Simultaneously, the treatment of attorney general Séamus Woulfe has shown that elements of the media have no compunction about breaching fundamental principles of trust. Coveney’s colleagues in Fine Gael are divided over whether his botched attempt to limit the capacity of any future Dáil to change the proposed abortion legislation stemmed from naivety or cynicism. The issue has clearly posed a moral dilemma for Coveney ever since the Government strategy on the issue began to emerge. If he doesn’t trust his colleagues in the Dáil not to introduce an even more liberal abortion regime than they are currently committed to, why should the public trust them? Another big issue in the Dáil this week arose from media coverage of remarks by Woulfe at a lunch hosted by the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) last Friday.

Source: The Irish Times March 29, 2018 00:00 UTC