Those who expect normal service to resume in Dáil will have to wait

The results of an election will not materially change the diffuse make-up of our democratic choice, writes Gerard Howlin.

There is apoplexy among the politically correct about the ongoing mess that is the politics of water. The amour propre of those who believe they know best, is wounded. Knowing best, of course, is an incurable condition. And truthfully, water charges are a mess.

But they are symptoms, not cause. The cause that comes in for excoriation is new politics. Like most forms of indignation, it’s never clear exactly what that is. It’s possibly best understood as what it’s not - the hard slap of firm government.