Please release us from this silly season of politicians

Mick Wallace's hair was long and unkempt as if he'd spent his incarceration chained in a dungeon, writes Michael Clifford.

HE EMERGED into freedom, blinking as the cameras flashed, like someonewho had travelled from Victorian times. His hair was long, unkempt, uncut, all over the shop, whitened from age, as if he’d spent his incarceration in a dungeon, chained to a wall. His beard wasn’t much better.

Yet here he was after 7,200 long seconds, back in the real world — handed a chance to finally get on with his life. So began Mick Wallace’s first moments of freedom after his imprisonment on Wednesday for failing to pay a fine.