So, what next? - ‘Trust us’ won’t win an election

NOW that the winners’ euphoria is being tempered by a sense of the size of the challenge ahead; now that Fianna Fáil and the Greens have had a few days to come to terms with the depth of the disenchantment expressed by an angry and betrayed electorate, it might be time to consider what the results mean.

Or, indeed, what it would mean if the same uncompromising mood prevails when, sooner or later, a general election is called.

It is appropriate to ask if politicians will consider the implications from any perspective other than what they mean for their party’s prospects. That may be the hardest question to answer, but it may, too, be the most important.