NEW: As early as March 4th, Katherine Zappone was texting him to thank you "so, so much" for some new role - and wanting to know how long the appointment would be for.

This is months before the spec for any position was drafted by Dept, and four months before Taoiseach knew
The documents published by Dept of Foreign Affairs this afternoon also show a senior official in the Dept raising concern about whether it had enough staff to support the work of such an envoy, in particular because it was so busy with the UN Security Council presidency
It also shows Zappone contacting Ireland's UN ambassador in early June asking about her appointment, inferring some frustration about how slowly it was moving
In one email in June, an official in DFA's legal division reports a claim that Zappone has been "doing some work with the DFA on LGBTI issues" - and is told that, other than giving a speech at an embassy event in Washington, there hadn't been any such involvement
There's also a WhatsApp from Zappone to Coveney in February of this year, where KZ looks for Coveney's help getting introduced to Samantha Power, the Dublin-born US Secretary for International Development. She has already been onto Paschal Donohoe seeking help with this.
While there are records of some brief meetings in DFA in March about the idea of creating an envoy for LGBT issues, the UN office didn't start pulling together a brief for it until mid-June - three months after Zappone has "accepted" the role
In the run-up to the final appointment - with senior officials in DFA finalising a brief for what exactly the Special Envoy should do, Zappone - in advance of meeting the sec-gen to finalise it - submits her own vision for what the job ought to look like
The chronology is delicate but the crux of the documents are:

Simon Coveney told Oireachtas he merely communicated KZ's availability to his Dept, and little more than that.

But by March 4 Zappone was thanking him for "offering me this incredible opportunity" and seeking spec.
So:
- Zappone asks for Coveney's help to meet Samantha Power
- Zappone is told in March she'll get a role, starting in June - yet Taoiseach is "blindsided"
- in June Zappone asks Irish UN Amb why the delay
- Zappone draws up her own brief, incorporated into the final edition

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More from @gavreilly

7 Sep
Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs now in public session with Simon Coveney...

Watch live here: oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-…

Will try to keep updates confined to this thread
"I intend to ensure that the Minister is given a fair hearing, and that members have an adequate opportunity to question the Minister," says chairman Charlie Flanagan in a longer-than-usual overture
Before Coveney can speak, a point of order from SF's John Brady... He's taking issue with the fact that Coveney's letter to the committee last Thursday (addressing inconsistencies; circumstances of phone hacking, etc.) appeared in the media before it arrived in members' inboxes
Read 64 tweets
1 Sep
The tone of the messages is very clear that Zappone expected the appointment as something of a fait accompli
A better-socialised colleague than I suggests that the “Piglet” in question may be a Temple Bar wine bar, and not some oddball porcine moniker
Confirmed that this is a reference to the wine bar.
Read 12 tweets
31 Aug
Sept 1:
🚎 Public transport 100% capacity

Sept 6:
🏨 Indoor gatherings, cinemas, theatres to 60% capacity, if all adults vaxxed
🏟 Outdoor gatherings to 75% if all adults vaxxed; 50% otherwise
🎸 Live music returns
Sept 20:
🎭 Indoor group activities 100 ppl where all adults vaxxed - may involve pods depending on venue
👪 Limits on outdoor gatherings lifted (still caps on sport/arts events)
🏣 Start of phased return to offices and workplaces
Oct 22: No more…
↔️Physical distancing
😷 Mask wearing outdoors, or indoor private settings
🏟 All limits on events
⛪️ Restrictions on religious or civil ceremonies
🏡 Limits on household gatherings
📲 Use of vaccine certs for domestic purposes
🕺🏻 Restrictions on nightclubs
Read 4 tweets
31 Aug
Taoiseach: From Sept 6, events can take place for people at 60% capacity indoors and 75% capacity outdoors

(NB: For outdoor events a vaccine cert is legally unenforceable)
From Oct 22, the legal requirement to prove immunity to access indoor events, all remaining restrictions in indoor and outdoor events, religious ceremonies, and maskwearing in indoor and private settings will end

(This entails a 2-wk extension to the current vaccine pass rules)
Taoiseach: Even after the 22th of October, there will be a legal requirement to wear masks in healthcare settings, indoor retail and on public transport.
Read 4 tweets
31 Aug
Taoiseach's speech is live now on @VirginMediaNews.

He says what Ireland has had to come through is unimaginable, but necessary "because the number one priority had to be the protection of people's lives and public health"
@VirginMediaNews "We've managed to protect a greater proportion of our people than most other countries… your effort and your sacrifice has saved lives"
@VirginMediaNews This all sounds very valedictory
Read 8 tweets
31 Aug
5️⃣,0️⃣1️⃣1️⃣,5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

The republic’s population has reached 5 million for the first time since the Famine.

@VirginMediaNews
Political note: this probably means that the next Dáil will have 10 extra TDs.

The Electoral Reform Bill would expand the Dáil to between 166-172 TDs, but Census 2022 will probably see a population of 5.06m which will mean constitutionally we’ll need at 169 at the very minimum.
169 TDs would be the constitutional minimum but in order to have constituencies reflecting county boundaries where possible (as currently required, and to be retained by the Electoral Reform Bill) there’ll likely need to be 170 deputies or more. There are 160 at present.
Read 4 tweets

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