Bad news: The long peaceful summer, in which Irish politicians go away and leave us all alone, is over. Worse news: The era of the “party think in” is here. This is when politicians get together to have a good long hard think about what misery they will inflict upon us in the coming months, or to make grand declarations about how they’re going to get back “in touch” with us.
This week, Sinn Fein attempted the latter: We’ve listened to the punters on immigration, declared Mary Lou, and….. well. There was no “and”, so we don’t know exactly what she meant, beyond the probability that a few SF councillors here and there will be permitted to say fruitier than normal things about foreigners on facebook.
More interesting news: The election in Germany last weekend, for better or worse, will have shocked European politics to the core. And so, this week we ask: Is there any chance of a similar outcome here in Ireland? Two parties are obvious candidates, namely Aontu and Independent Ireland. But do they have what it takes? We discuss that.
There’s some mandatory budget chat this week, but also time taken near the end to reflect on 9/11 - where we were; how it changed the world; and whether everything has gone to hell since then. Have we a point, or are we just engaged in middle-aged nostalgia about how everything was better in our day…..?
It’s a fun hour. We enjoyed making it - and we hope you enjoy listening.
See you Monday.
