Mick Clifford: Foul play in the Dáil? Micheál Martin’s Irish dribble leaves everyone confused

A linguistic slip — or strategic play? Taoiseach’s Dáil exchange sparks debate over language, politics, and truth

Micheál Martin and Mary Lou McDonald during the final TV leaders' debate in Dublin last year. The Taoiseach has said he did not accuse Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald of 'telling lies', but of 'telling untruths'.

Would Micheál Martin ever have made the grade for Real Madrid? The Taoiseach comes from a line of goalkeepers, including his older brothers Sean and Paudie, not to mention his son Micheál Aodh, who plays between the sticks for Cork’s senior footballers. The man himself didn’t possess a safe pair of hands on the football pitch whatever about the political arena.

The Real Madrid connection is not concerning footballing ability or temperament but language and how it can get lost in translation. The Taoiseach’s kindred spirit in such matters is one Jude Bellingham, an Englishman in Madrid.