Ireland should pay close attention to a warning from respected BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel.
His alert about skullduggery in British diplomatic circles could have a fallout to affect our relationship with America, Britain and the EU.
The story that broke on Sunday about the leak of diplomatic cables in which Britain’s ambassador to the US Sir Kim Darroch described the Trump administration as "inept" and the White House as uniquely "dysfunctional and divided" was a cracker of a journalistic scoop.
But it was who was responsible for the leak, and why, that has politicians and analysts searching for an answer.
Secret diplomatic communications, especially from the ambassador in Washington, would only have been available to a small circle in Whitehall.
Donald Trump branded 'inept and dysfunctional' by British ambassador to the US
I understand Ambassador Darroch is due to end his stint soon, so who is to gain from his embarrassment?
Sopel, a highly respected analyst, certainly prompted speculation with his examination of the situation on BBC Television’s News at 10 on Sunday night.
Basically, what he said was that Boris Johnson – favourite to be Britain’s next prime minister – is liked by Trump, as is Nigel Farage.
Farage, who led the campaign to get Britain out of the EU, could well be the candidate for the ambassadorship under Johnson.
Sopel later tweeted that Darroch was a lifelong public servant who has represented governments of all stripes. The Twitter post added: "... and now finds himself the victim of such low political skulduggery – is this where we are as a country?"
Indeed! Has Britain stooped so low?
I fear the far-right movement that seems set to link up across the Atlantic.
If Johnson really does get the job, Britain will be led by a self-centred buffoon who was a disaster when he was Foreign Secretary.
He will, if the BBC man’s analysis is correct, put Farage in the ambassador’s residence in Washington, a man once described by a schoolteacher as an alleged fascist and who was an admirer of Enoch Powell.
Farage will be the link to an American government run by a former bankrupt who has been frequently accused of racism and who supervises a border policy that separates children from their parents. As frequently as two weeks ago the policy was responsible for a two-year-old child draping her arm around her asylum-seeking father before both drowned in the Rio Grande.
Ireland and Europe has much to worry about if the Johnson-Farage-Trump tripartite ever becomes a fact.
There’s a tiny ray of hope on the horizon.
In recent previous campaigns the favourite for the Tory leadership has never won.
It’s why Ireland should fervently pray for success for Jeremy Hunt.
He may not be the answer to our border problem that will come after Brexit.
But at least he might manage to bring some sanity to trans-Atlantic relations that are currently under strain and would likely be even more harmful with Johnson and Farage at the helm.
