The public might be forgiven for thinking that the state had bought their silence on a matter of public interest.
When a media organ is suggesting – vaguely – that some people making some arguments might be Russian agents, then that media organ is not doing the public a service.
Also: the usual McGuirk Trump Derangement Syndrome, Paschal and Israel, and the alleged organised torture of a woman in Dublin.
“The big structural issues, like planning backlogs or health capacity crises, or wider EU migration policy, are viewed consistently as being above the political pay grade.”
The structure of the electorate is a problem for parties of the right across Europe and the West.
Whatever the fate of the Government at the election, she will be one of the few senior ministers to emerge from this Dáil with her reputation amongst her peers, and the wider electorate, enhanced.
That yesterday’s budget was a cynical exercise in vote buying is beyond any doubt. The problem for the opposition is that if the usual laws of politics apply, then it is very likely to work.
“Independent Ireland TDs and MEPs will vote in accordance with the party’s policies, as they are the people who developed, negotiated, and adopted said policies”
Lie about the small things consistently, and people will eventually start to assume you are lying about everything.
Oh, by the way – fill your car with diesel today. If the Greens get their way, it will cost you more tomorrow.
Thus is the Government operating on immigration: Having started the fire, they now stand before you promising to douse the flames and get matters back under control.
It is also to steal away an innocence and a magic that most human beings have enjoyed discovering for themselves.