Dáil turns into political swamp with parties mired in water charges standoff

Another delay, another fudge, another grand morass in Irish politics as the decay of this minority Government begins to stink. Agreement on water charges has once more been postponed.

As parties try to muddy the waters over the latest impasse on charging for services, it is clear that this delay in finding common ground on water is populist politics at play.

Divisions between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil on how to proceed with water charges held up the government-formation talks last year. Other parties capitalised on the fury and the two main groups thus feared losing support after the backlash on water bills.