Sometimes things go so badly wrong that even the strongest-hearted cannot conceal their dismay. It was thus with Rishi Sunak as his gamble with the Downing Street weather failed dismally.
Many years ago, the then PD leader Mary Harney was considering her options amid a wrangle with her deputy Michael McDowell over her continuing in office a job he had firmly set his sights on.
Chatting warmly to Tommie Gorman and David Davin-Power at the US ambassador’s residence brought Kevin Bakhurst some respite from the turmoil at RTÉ. The two veteran correspondents retired from RTÉ while it was still a revered national institution, not the butt of jokes, perpetually crisis-ridden and needing financial bailouts. Joe Kennedy III, the US envoy to Northern Ireland, was speaking at the event on Thursday night about the restoration of the Stormont Executive.