Terry Prone: Politicians must always be tuned in, especially to their own words

The thing about Eoin Ó Broin, and indeed all of Sinn Féin, is that they have done a superb job of opposition

Eoin Ó Broin of Sinn Féin had a peculiar interaction with Shane Coleman on Newstalk's breakfast programme.

TWO politicians, half a world away from each other, had interesting and significant moments this last week: Our own Eoin Ó Broin and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern.

Ó Broin has been a major asset to Sinn Féin. The acceptable face of the formerly unacceptable. The neat-dictioned, ever-calm, always-expert (particularly on housing) spokesperson ready to grace anybody’s microphone, even at short notice, competent to disagree in detail and presenting evidence when a Government spokesperson makes an assertion. The scholarly yet quirky look of him. The self-control: Never flustered, never aggressive, never anything less than on top of his brief.