How not to sound like a politician and yet get your message across

I’M insulted about not being asked to attend a think-in.

In the boom days, any decent think-in would have non-politicos arriving in limos to talk to them. Maybe Fr Sean Healy didn’t arrive at the Fianna Fáil think-in by limo, but he would have been the exception. No matter what party they were addressing, the external VIP speakers were the highlight of the event. They carried an aura of having seen the future and returned to tell the politicians how it would work.

Sometimes, they were chosen because they could be relied on to make points to the gathering that would not be acceptable coming from a speaker within the particular political party, which might in turn improve the chances of those ideas seeping into party policy. On the other hand, if they never got near party policy, the guys at the top table still got the credit for bringing along an advocate for the poor or people with disabilities or the arts or whatever, while the lower orders were in line for any perceived blame over the advocate’s views not becoming part of the next manifesto. The backbenchers who were interested could listen to the talk and be seen to be smart and current by asking informed questions. The backbenchers who were not interested could buzz off to the bar and have a great time ignoring the outsider.