Disconnected - Conservation grant

A SUCCESSFUL career in politics requires ambition, determination, and a pretty thick skin. Stamina and an ability to focus on the tree rather than the branches seem prerequisites too.

A comforting, easy-to-hand sense of delusion is a trait many politicians also have, or at least seem to. A perfect example of this black-is-white haughtiness was seen at the National Ploughing Championships, when Phil Hogan, architect in chief of Irish Water, refuted any suggestion that its establishment was one of the greatest failures in public administration in the history of this State.

The sense of farce around the agency continues with the revelation that just hours before the deadline to apply for the €100 water conservation grant, fewer than half of those eligible had done so. The Government or Irish Water can’t be blamed for this unless it argues the economic recovery has reached such a pitch that those who didn’t apply care little enough for €100. It does though, underline the disconnect between the Government and the hundreds of thousands who refuse to be bribed with their own money to support a fiasco.