Political divide hard to detect

THERE are some questions for which there are no answers. Is there life after death? How big is the universe? What happened to Lord Lucan? What’s the difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael?

This week’s Economist survey on Ireland at times read like an extended party manifesto for Fianna Fáil and an abject hagiography of the PDs.

A blizzard of nice adjectives rained down on Mary Harney. She was the Taggart who toughed it out in the badlands and kept Ireland safe from socialism. And as for Michael McDowell? Controversial? Hysterical? Outspoken? Over-the-top? No, sorry.