Book review: Little glamour, lots of graft: A look at every aspect of political life in Ireland

'The Secret Life of Leinster House' gives the common citizen a clearer understanding of the good, and the not so good, of our law makers

Author Gavan Reilly is a political correspondent for Virgin Media. Picture: @gavreilly/X

• The Secret Life of Leinster House 
• Gavan Reilly 
• Gill Books, €18.99

Otto Von Bismark is often credited with coining the phrase, “Laws are like sausages, it is best not to see them being made”. 

Closer examination of the history of this maxim suggests Bismark borrowed it from the American poet John Godfrey Saxe. 

Bismark, being a supreme politician, understood the value of positive perception so he never revealed his source, nor did he correct the error in the accreditation.

Most people believe they know how politicians behave so would not be too surprised to learn that Bismark was prepared to take the credit for someone else’s work.

What most do not know, however, is why some politicians behave in this way.

There are many forms of the democratic process across the world, but the basic premise of sending an individual to a house of parliament to represent a community or state is basically the same. 

That representative — in Ireland, the TD or senator — is then expected to make decisions in the best interests of the country.

A “catch” arises if what is best for the country clashes with the interests of the community that the TD serves, because the community, at the next election, may choose to elect someone else.

This begs the question; what is a TD supposed to do to keep his seat?

If you wish to find the answer to this question, The Secret Life of Leinster House by Gavan Reilly is a good place to start. 

Reilly is a political correspondent for Virgin Media. 

He has observed the Oireachtas for long enough to recognise that every politician may wish to be portrayed as a swan gliding across the water, while underneath the surface, they are paddling frantically to stay afloat.

The book looks at every aspect of political life in Ireland, from getting a nomination to retirement.

Reilly explains that having a genuine cause, or even a family history in a party, is no guarantee of getting a party nomination.

“There is a golden rule of party conventions: if a candidate is unsure of their prospects, they are going to lose.”

The book moves from nomination to canvassing and on to the election day. The role of the tallyman is discussed. 

Counting the first and second preferences is not the primary purpose of a tally; it is much more nefarious than that.

When a voting box from a particular area of a constituency is opened, the tally counters can glean how much support there was from that area for their candidate. 

Long after the election is over, the party faithful will parse this information and begin to form their tactics for the next election.

Throughout the book, some TDs and ex-TDs go on the record with their thoughts and experiences. 

Others, with an eye to the next election, remain anonymous but that does not take from their message. 

Many feel that helping the public to deal with public service matters (for services that people are entitled to in the first place) is not a good use of their time.

We learn that the reason why several opposition spokespeople stand up in the Dáil and ask the same question of a minister, is because their respective parties will take the film clip of the question and post it on their social media to give the impression that their TD came up with this brilliant question.

We also see that there is very little glamour and lots of graft to the life of a TD. 

The toll on family life has left many a TD rueing the lost years they were away from home while their children grew up.

The Secret Life of Leinster House is thought provoking. It gives the common citizen a clearer understanding of the good, and the not so good, of our law makers. 

Although it is unlikely to help change the basic modus operandi of the TD — to get re-elected.

To paraphrase the WS Gilbert song: “When constituency duty’s to be done (to be done), a politician’s lot is not a happy one.”

BOOKS & MORE

Check out our Books Hub where you will find the latest news, reviews, features, opinions and analysis on all things books from the Irish Examiner's team of specialist writers, columnists and contributors.