Until this week, I’d had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing four of our five last Presidents so it was with great interest and enthusiasm that I welcomed our newest First Citizen to an event by the sea in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

The occasion was to launch the Spirit of Shackleton, a sailing vessel built for young Irish people to encourage leadership through exploration and adventure.

The project was created by the Atlantic Shackleton Global Foundation and the aim is to give the next generation of Irish youngsters access to experiences that explore and encourage resilience, leadership and curiosity, all facets of the great explorer himself.

Ernest Shackleton was arguably Kildare’s greatest export and, to this day, tales of his adventures, failures and successes are legendary.

In more recent years, he has become a totemic name in the world of business leadership due to his stoicism and indeed grace under extraordinary pressure.

It’s for all these reasons that his name is on this beautiful boat as launched by President Catherine Connolly this weekend.

Like most people, I had only seen the President or read about her when she was an Independent TD and latterly when she ran for the Áras.

I’m happy to report that our President is a very warm, engaged and curious person who was extremely generous with her time at the boat launch.

As she’s a Galway woman, I shouldn’t have expected anything less and as someone well-versed on the Wild Atlantic Way, it was wonderful to hear her speak so eloquently about the importance of the sea and how we treat it.

I felt lucky that we, as an island nation, have such a fine President but also such great citizens who are pulling together for future generations with this thoughtful, national endeavour.

Meanwhile London went full Ancient Rome this week as prime minister Keir Starmer, below, felt the weight of many daggers plunge through his toga.

It was a fascinating week in British politics that started with Starmer’s attempt to stave off assassins by delivering what he hoped would be a career-saving speech; it wasn’t.

No sooner had he finished than the whispers began and momentum took over from there. Sky News went into PM Death Watch as MP after MP called for Starmer to either consider his position, lay out a timetable to depart 10 Downing Street or just go. The PM chose none of the above and vowed to stay and fight on if necessary.

Health secretary Wes Streeting, far right, was first of the big beasts to resign and everyone presumed a leadership race would ensue but as this is an epic struggle, all eyes gazed north, where the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, right, was weighing his options.

The problem for Burnham was that he isn’t an MP (and has to be to run for the top job) but by Wednesday night, a Manchester MP fell on his sword to allow a by-election which the mayor expects to win.

However, after the local elections last week in which the Greens and Reform turned the political system upside-down, one wouldn’t bet the house on any seat being ‘safe’ in 2026, so now we wait.

If Burnham wins, he will run and win the race to lead the Labour Party and should be in 10 Downing Street by the time schools restart in September.

But if he fails to win a seat, that leaves a four-way race between the PM (if he still doesn’t see the writing on the wall), Streeting, former deputy PM Angela Rayner and perhaps former Labour leader Ed Miliband, which would make for a fascinating spectacle.

While our system in Ireland may have its flaws, we generally have a stable administration of the nation’s affairs.

In the UK, Downing Street has had so many prime ministers through its door that it’s beginning to resemble a short-term letting Airbnb rather than the stable seat of power.