Terry Prone: The touch paper has been lit for the presidential conflagration 

Mairead McGuinness will be the best candidate Fine Gael ever lost, while Gareth Sheridan is learning politics is not for the faint-hearted

Only a serious health issue would have taken Mairead McGuinness out of contention, and she will now become the best candidate Fine Gael ever lost for reasons outside of its control and hers. File Picture: Dan Linehan

It was like police officers tossing a flashbang into a barricaded house. Twice in the one day. We have to misquote Wilde: "To experience one flashbang may be unfortunate. To experience two within hours of each other is unprecedented."

Neither improved anybody’s understanding of anything. Both electrified everybody. The new guy nobody knew blew himself up. The favourite everybody knew extinguished her candidacy.