Politicians should be wary of football fever

If you thought there was a chance of Enda Kenny calling a snap election in the euphoria that followed Shane Long’s goal last Thursday evening, you weren’t alone.

It was striking to meet, hear from or talk to otherwise rational people who expected the Tipperary man’s strike to usher in a few weeks of party political broadcasts, canvassing and earnest discussion of what the mystical art of tallying actually entails.

The logic ran thus — a government increasingly at odds with itself and the electorate sees a rising tide of optimism in the country and decides to surf that to re-election.