Alison O’ Connor says we shouldn’t dismiss it as harmless when society judges women on their appearance 

In my days as a young political reporter if you’d asked me the difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil one of my first thoughts would have been: Fianna Fáil are far more craic.

THEY’RE playing it down, of course, but Fianna Fáilers are rather gleeful at present given their rather robust state of political health. All things being relative.

HOW do you solve a problem like the public? That’s the dilemma for the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, as he faces into a seriously challenging political year.

CHRISTMAS is traditionally when we reflect on the past 12 months and speculate about the future. What feels different about the 2014 political review/scene setter is that there is so much happening that it is difficult to make a prediction of any accuracy about next year.

Will there ever be an end to the sort of the political teasing we are forced to endure? 

We are in an age of anti-politics. Such is the rage against the “establishment” politicians there is a sense that nothing they can do now can ever be enough.

THE Labour TD explained how he wouldn’t like to owe Joan Burton money, because he’d feel obliged to pay it back within 24 hours. 

I’M feeling like the Government has given me a bunch of flowers and an apology, but no real explanation why they’ve made such a mess of our relationship.

OUR establishment politicians are now held so low in the public’s estimation that voters appear to favour a party led by a man who has been mired in rape and child abuse controversies and has outstanding questions to answer on both.