Where were you on Wednesday when you heard the announcement? Joe Duffy, the nation’s father confessor, is bowing out. In another era, your granny would have bought the newspaper for the full report then put it carefully away in a drawer for future generations. Oh eight, one eight, seven one five, eight one five. Wash yer hands. Deh Liveline is closing now. Duffy is stepping down from his phone-in show after 27 years. Now, life’s only certainties are death, taxes and Pat Kenny. And then, as Joe’s bombshell news was just sinking in, white smoke – like dry ice in the Top of the Popes studio – pumped from the Sistine’s stovepipe, signalling the election of a new pope. Too late for Joe to apply. Who got the gig? A cardinal of the Catholic church originally from Chicago yet who, by some strange miracle, doesn’t appear to have any Irish roots. Robert Prevost used to be the bishop of a place in Peru called Chiclayo, which should win him some brownie points with Donald Trump. Obviously we are devastated here in the Irish Times because we thought Fintan O’Toole was in with a good chance this time. But it wasn’t to be. On the other hand, fair play to his fellow columnist, Breda O’Brien. Here’s the headline from her piece two weeks ago on the significance of papal names: “Why the next Pope should be ... Leo”. Some rugby obsessives were immediately taking it as a good omen that the British and Irish Lions were unveiled on the same day a Pope Leo was elected. Anyway, never mind whether Robert Provost (or Bob, as he is known to fellow Augustinians according to Breda, who has the inside track) comes from Chicago or Peru or anywhere else for that matter. He can still be embraced by the Soldiers of Destiny, because Fianna Fáil is a broad church. Which is why, not soon after the election of Pope Leo XIV, the party rushed out an image of what looked like Bob’s election leaflet with its prominent Fianna Fáil logo at the end of it and the word “Congratulations” now across the top. St Peter’s cumann must be proud of him, even if he chose to take the name of Fine Gael’s last leader. Pope Leo was elected on the fourth count, after which his surplice was distributed. Some people in Leinster House on Friday were inferring from Fianna Fáil’s hearty felicitations that the new pontiff has also landed a prestigious committee chair. Dev would be proud. In Dáil Éireann on Wednesday evening, the party’s TDs were too overjoyed to comment on Cardinal Prevost’s elevation. First in with the congratulations was Paul Lawless of Áontu, followed rapidly by Mattie McGrath. Meanwhile, as Ireland comes to terms with this major news, we understand that Sil Fox, June Rogers, Red Hurley, Ronan Collins and Fr Brian D’Arcy will meet in conclave in the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Ballyfermot to elect a successor. The church has no chimbly so Twink will release a parrot in Le Fanu Park when Joe Duffy’s replacement has been chosen. The book of evidence A big week too for senator, senior counsel and Irish Times columnist Michael McDowell, whose first book was launched on Wednesday before a big crowd in Dublin’s Royal Irish Academy. A rather timely juncture for his greatest works to appear? Good for the election CV and a great opening salvo for an imminent presidential election campaign? So is he thinking of running? “I’m not giving any answers,” Michael says coyly. He hasn’t made up his mind yet. When he does “you’ll be the first to know”. He’s enjoying the speculation. And the attention. The Definite Article was launched by former president Mary McAleese. The book is a collection of McDowell’s articles and essays written over the last 30 years. It’s hard to believe that this is his first book. The former minister for justice and one-time leader of the now-defunct Progressive Democrats is never short of a word. His son Hugh, also a barrister, was MC on the night and he brought the house down with his description of the book. He has his da well pegged. His father’s opus has three broad sections. The first “a very lengthy section, is entitled ‘My Achievements’”. The second is “Things I was prevented from Achieving’”. Subsections here include the person who prevented him from achieving, bureaucrats, “my political opponents” and “the ungrateful electorate”. And the third and greatest part is devoted to “the impact of the metro link on Ranelagh”. Michael’s wife, Niamh Brennan, and other two sons, Ross and John, greatly enjoyed Hugh’s irreverent take on Michael’s musings. Guests at the launch of The Definite Article, published by Red Stripe with all proceeds going to the Alice Leahy Trust, included Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy and her daughter Robyn; Minister for Skort and Media Patrick O’Donovan, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and former minister for justice Charlie Flanagan. Ministers of state Marian Harkin and Noel Grealish were also among the politicians while Michael’s fellow members of the Seanad Independents Group came along to show their support. Former colleagues from the upper house, Marie Louise O’Donnell and Ian Marshall, also attended. There was also a large turnout from the various organs which harvested those collected writings. Editor Ruadhán Mac Cormaic led a large Irish Times contingent. Former Sunday Independent editor Anne Harris was there as was Tom Lyons of the Currency. Former RTÉ political correspondent Seán Duignan caught up with our own former pol corr Stephen Collins. Battle for the seat of power It’s all happening for Senator McDowell. He is on course to become a member of the powerful Oireachtas Commission, which oversees the running of the place. This is not going down well with the Seanad cross-party group of Labour, Social Democrats and Green Party senators who are up in arms about this surprise move. The upper house has three seats on the Oireachtas Commission. Two of these are earmarked for Robbie Gallagher of Fianna Fáil and Joe O’Reilly of Fine Gael. Now, the Civic Engagement Group of Independents has united with McDowell’s Seanad Independent Group to ensure that he takes the third seat. Representatives of the smaller parties say this breaks a precedent from the last Seanad which saw the positions shared proportionally to ensure all groups get a say in the running of the Oireachtas over the next four years. They also point out that the decision by Frances Black, Lynn Ruane, Alice-Mary Higgins and Eileen Flynn to join forces with the other independent group would mean all three nominees from the Seanad are men. There will be a Seanad showdown next week with the combined parties now seeking a vote on who gets the job. They have tabled an amendment to the motion nominating McDowell, instead proposing Labour‘s Nessa Cosgrove for the job. Bertie’s back, telling it like it is Still on possible candidates for the presidency, we see Bertie Ahern was back in Leinster House this week. He was in august company too. Not many people know this, but globe-trotting Bertie is co-chair of the InterAction Council, which is an organisation of former global leaders. Members include Bill Clinton, John Major and a whole host of former prime ministers and presidents from across the globe. The council held its annual meeting this year in Dublin, where Bertie delivered “a state-of-the-world address”. The former taoiseach brought more than 20 delegates, including Viktor Yushchenko, the former president of Ukraine, to Leinster House for a quick tour of the building. It was late in the evening, so they didn’t see much when they visited the Dáil chamber. Afterwards they enjoyed dinner in the Ceann Comhairle’s diningroom, which is off the main Oireachtas restaurant. Daly besieged by complaints That dinner took place thanks to the good auspices of Seanad Cathaoirleach Mark Daly. The Bert, as a former member of the Oireachtas, asked him to host Wednesday’s dinner in Leinster House. Mark is a busy man. He recently showed members of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs around Leinster House and, as politicians tend to do, he posted some nice pictures of the occasion to his social media accounts. It happened on a quiet Friday at the end of April – a non-sitting day, but the photographs of Mark and the visiting Congressmen attracted such a deluge of negative responses he had to disable replies to them last week. The visit also prompted a major spike in the already high volume of emails received by TDs, senators and their staff from campaigners urging them to condemn Israel’s military onslaught against civilians in Gaza. The deluge left them none too happy with Fianna Fáil’s Senator Daly for clogging up their inboxes. The Cathaoirleach is regularly photographed with US politicians – he loves rubbing shoulders with fellow senators (and more lowly members of Congress) on Capitol Hill. As the Irish senate’s Mr Speaker, he hosted committee chair Brian Mast and his colleagues Joe Wilson, Jimmy Panetta and Ami Bera during their visit to Kildare Street. It was the sight of Mast – a Florida Republican who wore an Israeli military uniform on Capitol Hill and once remarked “there are very few innocent Palestinian citizens” when asked to comment on the killing of children and babies by the Israel Defense Forces – that prompted the outraged response. The conversation between Mast (whose “significant appointment” in December was welcomed by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu) and Daly must have been interesting. Fifteen years ago this month, Senator Daly hit the headlines as one of three Irish politicians refused permission to leave Cyprus to join an international aid flotilla attempting to breach Israel’s blockage of Gaza. Mark, along with then party colleague and TD Chris Andrews (now a Sinn Féin senator) and Sinn Féin deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh, was among a group of international politicians prevented from joining the Gaza flotilla. Days later, Israeli naval commandos attacked the flotilla, shooting dead 10 pro-Palestinian activists and injuring many more. “It is a huge tragedy,” he told The Kerryman newspaper upon his return, drawing parallels between the incident and Derry’s Bloody Sunday.