Independents are keeping their cards close to their chests

I don’t like to describe the past week as a fool’s errand but I am not as optimistic as I would like to have been, writes John Halligan

What a week it has been.

We came from all parts of the country, day after day, in a bid to see if we could help form a government. Many of us left our homes at 5.30am to be in Dublin in time to start the meetings, stayed there for up to 12 hours and more before returning home that night. We, as Independents, repeated that process for several days in a genuine attempt to play our part. But things did not get off to a good start.