Onions, deals and an Irish election

Onions have many layers, as does the deal landscape.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the current Irish political landscape. Ireland is today facing a multitude of important deal scenarios within its body politic, with its citizens, in relation to Northern Ireland, the British, the EU and the wider world.

One of the Seven P's of Deal-closing - the Power Balance currently has a bright light shone on it by what is transpiring in Ireland with the flow on ramifications of the Maurice McCabe controversy. What a Minister should, or should not, have done with an email is exposing all these deal layers as language is a critically important aspect of the Deal Power Balance.

Ireland is potentially on the brink of an election because of the political power play over language at a time when the various deal layers are resonating, even pulsating:

• A large part of its citizens are angry over issue relating to housing, homeless, the abortion debate and so on;

• The country should arguably be firming its voice and therefore power equation in relation to the Northern Ireland peace process and other key Brexit related issues such as agriculture, customs duties and citizens rights. This is particularly so when certain UK politicians and the press are questioning the Irish voice or have even left a vacuum for it; and

• Its parties are positioning to save deal face internally and externally in a fragile coalition environment.

Is pushing towards a Christmas election going to unravel the various layers of these different deal dynamics? Does it risk relegating Ireland's deal power base?

What is clear is that just as there are many layers to an onion, there are many layers to a deal landscape and these layers are being amplified by the current political discourse in Ireland.

As with language, the Deal Onion has many layers in Ireland right now.

#IrishPolitics #DealHack #Power #DealClosing #Brexit