It’s a hard Irish habit to break, governments buying elections

We could see a general election where a large number of independents are elected

WE’VE had our Budget. Seventy two hours prior to that we had a protest march involving up to 100,000 people on the streets of the capital. At almost the same time we had Dáil by-elections where the establishment political parties were given a serious kicking by the voters.

The backdrop to these most recent political developments has been a disaster zone for Taoiseach Enda Kenny, one which entered bizarre territory this week with him being drawn in to a controversy over a not-paid-for diamond ring, and accusations of dirty tricks in leaking emails to the media concerning one of his own TDs.