Trying not to mention the war

It would take a plastic surgeon to get under the skin of Bertie Ahern, but Pat Rabbitte is determined to try.

The Taoiseach's relentless affability crushed all opposition during his first term in government, forcing a rethink for all concerned. And where Fine Gael's response was to elect Enda Kenny in a brave but probably doomed attempt to be even nicer than Bertie, Labour under Rabbitte has gone for permanent confrontation as a means to resist Mr Ahern's all-embracing consensus. That was the strategy even before the war in Iraq, but international conflict has only encouraged it.

A key element of the Labour leader's tactic is to accuse the Taoiseach daily of not answering his questions. This is always a plausible accusation, because even when the Taoiseach does answer, it's not always obvious without the benefit of slow-motion replays and expert analysis. But almost regardless of the Taoiseach's reply, Mr Rabbitte will rise to his feet again with an air of sadness, or disbelief, or occasionally exasperation, and offer to put his question more simply this time.

In the latest example yesterday, the Taoiseach was accused of dodging a reply about where he stood on the doctrine of "pre-emptive war". As he always does, however, Mr Ahern stood up again calmly, said he thought he had already answered, but that what he stood for was the system of collective international security. "I stand for the UN," he added.

Nobody knows whether Mr Rabbitte's tactic will succeed in riling him eventually. For the moment, the idea of the Taoiseach engaging in angry argument is like the sound of one hand clapping. And when he says "I stand for the UN," it may be the best hope for both the planet and the Opposition that he does just that, as soon as Kofi Annan's job becomes available.

It remained difficult yesterday for the Dáil to focus on anything except war, but deputies did try. Sinn Féin raised the issue of "gazumping", with Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin suggesting property developers were "literally screwing" first-time buyers.

Trevor Sargent objected to the Dáil's new order papers, complete with blank front and back pages, one of which he tore off and waved like the Munich peace agreement to draw attention to the Government's "waste creation" policies.

And in its continuing protest over the Freedom from Information Bill, Labour came up with 17 issues requiring emergency debate. It is a daily charade in the Dáil that deputies may seek immediate adjournment to debate a matter of urgent national importance.

With 17 to consider, we feared the Ceann Comhairle's hard drive might crash. But he stood up to the challenge manfully, before decreeing that none of the topics was sufficiently urgent.