The pot plant, the commissioner, and a burning desire to be a senator

AROUND the time my secretary threw my marijuana plant out the window was the period when I was expert on the Seanad.

I was editor of Young Citizen magazine, which was published by the Institute of Public Administration to inculcate awareness in school-goers of the governance systems of the nation and of the EU and to develop in them a strong civic spirit.

It failed, mainly because civics wasn’t an exam subject. Since people do what they’re rewarded for doing, students decided the subject was a complete crock and ignored it. After a year, I left and not long after that, the publication folded.