Electoral ‘bloodshed’ of 2016 will mimic Easter Rising in changing little

FRETTING about successfully celebrating 2016 is unnecessary. I am certain the centenary of the Easter Rising will be an unforgettable event. 

Intended to be a catalyst to renew the Republic, it will be that, but more. Next year can be the forest fire that leaves little more than ashes. Eventually, there may be renewal; but first destruction; then disappointment.

Today’s marchers, protesting about water charges, are part of the dismantlement. Embalmed in a same-system for years, the dismemberment of our political architecture is frightening, for some. But there is more to fear in the expectation than in the experience. If the prophecy of opinion polls is fulfilled for 2016, there will be the crashing of an edifice that has morally, if not constitutionally, lost its authority.