Voters want change but disparate grouping could spell chaos

The people have spoken, and in a very loud voice. But what is not clear is where the results of the weekend elections leave our politics.

If you look at the big picture it seems clear enough that Independent candidates and Sinn Féin were the winners. Logically, this would indicate that voters are fed up of the established parties and, in large numbers, plumped for non-party candidates or for a party which has never exercised power previously.

But wait, the other crowd who did well with local authority seats is Fianna Fáil. This party is not currently in power, as we know, but they were for an awfully long time. When it left office, the country was in a shambolic state. They ruined us. But they did rather well over the weekend, as it happens, and might continue the bounce back into the next general election.