Elaine Byrne: FG’s knives come out behind a veil of gentlemanly conduct

The strange dynamic between Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and Simon Harris has curious echoes of the 2017 Fine Gael leadership race

Simon Coveney, Enda Kenny and Leo Varadkar in 2010: the attempted coup against Kenny that year was a relatively genteel affair. Picture: Photocall Ireland

They do things differently in Fine Gael. It’s why the party’s leadership campaigns are not always what they seem, and it’s why we should pay close attention to the strange dynamic between Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and Simon Harris in order to understand what is really going on.

The attempted coup in 2010 against Enda Kenny was a genteel affair. The public persona cultivated by Richard Bruton, Kenny’s challenger, was characterised by his polite interventions, ...