Busy week and weekend so just a couple so far... please add all that catch your aattention... in the IT this weekend, an overview of the departure of Sinn Féin TD Violet-Anne Wynne from that party and this interesting assertion:

Sinn Féin has suffered four high-profile Oireachtas defections in just 4½ years – Peadar Tóibín, Carol Nolan, Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and now Violet-Anne Wynne. That is a high figure for an opposition party. What would it be like in the white heat of government?

Weren't two of those defections over the issue of abortion, an issue which saw an actual split in Fine Gael with seven TDs leaving and forming the Reform Alliance with some of those and others going on to found Renua?

Stephen Collins is in typical form in the IT. There might be war in Ukraine, but there's only one real issue. As always:

The point about Sinn Féin's previous stance [as against calling for the expulsion of the Russian Ambassador] is that it revealed the natural inclination of the party to side with authoritarian forces against those who espouse Western democratic values.

It has provided the Irish electorate and the political system with another glimpse into the real nature of the party, and McDonald's attempt to erase the record of Sinn Féin's long-time support for Putin by suddenly adopting a pro-Ukraine pose should be treated as the opportunistic move it is.

In recent weeks Micheál Martin and Varadkar made strenuous efforts to call out Sinn Féin for its pro-Russia policy and were widely mocked for their trouble. The invasion of Ukraine has more than justified their warnings, and raises more serious questions about the values Sinn Féin will espouse if it ever gets into government.

All other examples welcome...