Happy Harney

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Harney in Dublin Castle as she launched the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). After the launch she spoke to journalists for about 15 minutes, answering questions about the nursing strike and the latest opinion polls, among others.
The question and answer session was nothing new, but what was interesting was Ms Harney’s exuberant mood. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, smiling, making jokes and generally being an all-around pleasant person to spend 15 minutes with is not how I usually picture Mary Harney.
Her loyal side-kick, Derek Cunningham, was also much more pleasant than usual, although his bonhomie was slightly more forced. Not even the PDs’ falling ratings in the opinion polls could get the Minister down.
“No one has voted in this election yet,” she sang. “In 2002 we were even lower in the polls and it didn’t affect our votes!”
She then smilingly told us journalists that she knows we, the health hacks, would be on her side.
Um, right. One happy quarter-of-an-hour does not our favourite politican make, Mary.