Colin Sheridan: Politics in Mayo is like football in Texas. There are dynasties and divisions

We are living in a polling vortex. Everything is polled. From opinions on VAR to the ‘Great Jamie Heaslip Podcast Plebiscite’ debacle, we have tested and tasted so much that instead of just cooking a family dinner, it’s best to create a twitter poll, socialise it, and wait an hour before going to the shops. The adage “if everything is important, nothing is” now applies to polling; if everything is worth polling, maybe nothing should be.

We in Ireland suffer more than most. So small, so outward-looking, we ingest other people’s polls passively, too polite or too mad for the pain they inflict upon us to resist.