Politics under scrutiny like never before

THE phenomenal success of Eddie Hobbs’ Rip Off Republic put what had been the Sleepy Hollow of the Irish political landscape under popular scrutiny like never before.

Consumer issues such as rising prices and sneaky taxes had never really been seen as make-or-break election issues. But the Hobbsian approach changed that.

Suddenly, the Government was fighting rearguard actions on the shocking wastage of public money; the failure of successive administrations to square up to vested interests in the construction sector; and profit-grabbing by publicans and service industry.