Fergus Finlay: President should speak up more and politicians must start listening

'Don’t give me that guff about how the President should be seen and not heard, like a well-behaved child. He has taken an oath to serve the welfare of the people of Ireland.'

It was elevated schoolyard bullying in the Dáil last week, while grownups were trying to draw attention to some real problems and failures elsewhere. Pearse Doherty was having a few underhand digs, to try to annoy Leo. Leo rose dutifully to the bait and tried his hand at oppo politics. Meanwhile, Michael D at last spoke out about one of the great social issues of our time.

Oppo politics had its origins in the USA and reached its current scientific basis around the time of the first Clinton campaigns. It was used extensively against him, and he and his people became adept at using it on his behalf. One of Clinton’s first campaign managers James Carville — the one who coined the phrase “it’s the economy, stupid”, was a strong believer in the relentless nature of oppo politics.