If this week’s podcast has a theme, then it is the smallness of Irish politicians, and the Irish system.
Few things exemplify that better than the case of Kirk Loco (read more here, from yesterday), who was essentially dragged before the courts for the crime of spotting, and alerting the public, to a potential migrant crime.
We discuss that case in depth. But the Loco case is a small signifier of something more fundamentally wrong in Ireland: Our politicians struggle to run the country, so they try to run you instead. Regulating what you say, think, eat, drink, smoke, and burn to heat your homes.
And when they cannot govern, they dance and prance: This week we’d the perfect example of that, by way of a barely believable video from the Labour MEP for Dublin, who costs the taxpayer around €200,000 a year when his expenses and running costs are taken into consideration.
The net effect of all of this is that Ireland’s politicians are now some of Europe’s least popular: A poll released this week has FF and FG at their lowest ever combined number, with fewer than one in three of us now supporting them. Meanwhile, alternative parties like Aontú and Independent Ireland, though imperfect, are surging.
Stepping away from politics, Sarah and I always like a chat about pop culture: So this week, the big story is Jennifer Lawrence, and what has happened to her face. Why do so many people embrace “generic” beauty looks, instead of sticking with what makes them unique? Maybe we’re not qualified to answer that question, but we’re certainly interested in asking it.
Anyway, we hope you enjoy. Thanks, as ever, for the support.
J&S
