There is a peculiar rhythm in Irish political life. Every five years or so, the electorate performs a ritual act of apparent rebellion — punishing the party of government, rewarding the opposition — and yet somehow, remarkably, nothing much changes. Taxes remain stubbornly high. Housing remains stubbornly scarce. Public services remain stubbornly mediocre. The cycle begins again.
This is not an accident. It is a feature. The central fiction of Irish democracy is that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil represent meaningfully different political traditions, and that the Irish Left represents a radical rupture with both. In policy terms, this is largely nonsense.
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