Michael D takes the lead but the mighty Quinn could be a contender

THE silly season is in full swing.

The Irish body politic is currently comatose. Fatigue from the past year of electioneering and regime change has taken its toll. No politician seems bothered to make their name during the recess. The courts are closed. Even vested interests and the usual talking heads are in hibernation. Hence the presidential election campaign is receiving hyperactive media attention. They build them up, only to knock them down again. It resembles one of the poorer Big Brother summer series. Evictions are coming fast and furious — David Norris and Gay Byrne were forced to leave the house, before they could be voted off.

The withdrawal of Mr Norris’ candidacy was a sour and unpleasant affair. His appeal was based on his colourful charisma, independence from party politics, scholarly professorial aura, enthusiasm, energy and charm — who else wears three-piece suits any more? By the time his opponents got to work on his reputation, he was depicted as a homosexual who was an apologist for statutory rape of a minor. A lethal cocktail of pederasty, clemency correspondence and naïveté destroyed his lifetime ambition to be head of state. His dignified departure, quoting Samuel Beckett, gave us a glimpse of potential eloquence of a president. In polls, he remains the most popular choice.