Coalition crisis - Seeking stability but at what cost?

IN the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979, Irish voters got a chance to elect 15 MEPs. Some candidates were excellent. Others, not so much.

Among the latter variety was a candidate who gained notoriety, not for his policies or views, but for the reaction of a voter when his handler bellowed: “Send (Mr X) to Europe!” Quick as a flash, the voter responded: “To Europe? I wouldn’t send him down to the shop for a pound of sausages.”

It was a colourful and memorable assessment of the candidate’s competence.