“Getting the working class out to vote” has basically been the pipe dream of every revolutionary left wing movement in the west for decades now.
There is no substitute, in the Irish system, for going out and building up a client base. Helen McEntee has done it, and most of her harshest critics – Willie O’Dea aside – have not.
The long term trajectory of Irish politics is broadly unchanged. B
More of this? For five more years? With a new energy? No wonder voters are saying no thanks.
The party has run a very good campaign. But is over-ambition creeping in?
We’ve all just learned something new about the Taoiseach – and it isn’t good for him.
They’re all set on the same economic course. Which is why the only thing they can fight about is a historic scuffle on the streets of Dundalk. Or Drogheda. Or wherever it was.
Pinning down the Taoiseach is not unlike trying to grab hold of a greased-up eel.
General election
This resounding defeat is firmly on the left and their crazy policies of the last decade. They made President Trump normal. That’s the truth they must now acknowledge.
The point is this: You went to their door. They didn’t invite you.
You’d nearly wonder if the Kremlin was full of Fine Gael supporters, all along.