He certainly got full marks for his assured Dail performances, as the government side lacked any sureness of touch on the child rapist controversy.

Electorally, the week also brought good tidings for Kenny, with former Mayo GAA boss John O'Mahony finally confirming his decision to seek a Fine Gael nomination in the five-seat constituency.

With Kenny, O'Mahony and Michael Ring, Fine Gael must have a decent shot at winning three seats. Such an eventuality would see a real dogfight for the other two seats between sitting Fianna Fail TD, John Carty, and the two non-party deputies, Beverly Cooper Flynn and Jerry Cowley, as well as FF newcomer Dara Callery in Ballina. The arrival of O'Mahony as a political figure also throws up some difficulties for RTE. The Mayo man has been a regular pundit for the national broadcaster over recent GAA seasons. He had two RTE outings last weekend . . . first as a sporting pundit and later as a potential political candidate on the Week in Politics. But with the Fine Gael convention next Sunday, it's likely that the requirement for political balance will take O'Mahony off the sporting airwaves. Not that the GAA man will be short of outlets for his views, given his long established media slots in radio and newspapers in Co Mayo.

Watch out Enda, the liberals await

THE social democratic wing in Fine Gael has taken a battering in recent times with the party's tough law-andorder stance. But maybe the Garret FitzGerald tradition has finally found a cheerleader in Simon Coveney. The Cork South Central TD and Munster MEP last week called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. "Guantanamo is a PR disaster, not only for the US, but for the west in general. It is an open sore for many people, sending out all the wrong messages in the so-called war on terrorism, " Coveney said during a debate in the European Parliament. The liberal leaning comments do not sit comfortably with Enda Kenny's right-leaning leadership of the Blueshirts. More of this and we'll have to start considering that the Cork politician is positioning himself for a possible tilt at the leader's job if Kenny doesn't make Government Buildings after the next election.

BRENDAN Drumm did a decent job in explaining the HSE decision to locate the new national children's hospital at the Mater Hospital site. "No political interference, " Drumm said confidently on Friday. But did anyone really believe that the cabinet was going to approve any decision other than one which backed the Mater site, which is in Bertie Ahern's Dublin Central constituency?

Hana"n halts Sinn Fein's vigil spirit

THE commemorative rage continues apace although Mary Hanafin has sought to dampen down enthusiasm for remembering the past.

Not content with the 1916 parade, Sean Crowe of Sinn Fein last week asked the education minister about the idea of remembering those who died in the Great Famine in the 1840s. A minute's silence by the country's school children was suggested. The idea was not, however, to Hanafin's liking. "It would not be appropriate for my department to issue schools with an instruction to observe a commemorative vigil, " she noted. A minute's silence was observed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001.

To avoid artful slips, watch your step

VISITORS to the National Gallery in Dublin would, it seems, be best advised to watch their footing on the main stairs in the gallery's millennium wing. At the end of 2002, Ruairi Quinn wrote to the Commissioners of Public Works on behalf of a constituent who was concerned about the stairs. A report from the gallery's architects, however, advised that the stairs were in compliance with the relevant building regulations. Up to that time, about 700,000 people had used the stairs without any accidents.

However, last November a compensation claim was lodged. It now seems four accidents have happened on the stairs. With legal action pending, a new report has been commissioned to ensure the stairs not only meets all the relevant regulations, but also 'best practice'.