Three days tell the story of the year in politics in 2022; three days whose events, and their effects on the country and its politics will remain in memory after the squabbles and petty scandals of the year have faded from view.
Requirements for physical distancing, seated only indoor tables, pods of six for activities, the Covid pass requirement for all venues and activities, the requirement to maintain contact details – all gone. The mood at the subsequent press conference in Government Buildings was almost light-headed.
Privately, Government figures grumpily asked: has everyone forgotten that we got through a pandemic? In their hearts, though, they knew that politics is a forward-looking game in which eaten bread is soon forgotten. Putin had reckoned however without the indomitable will of the Ukrainians, led by their president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Offered safe passage by the US, Zelenskiy memorably replied that he didn’t need a ride, he needed ammunition. It was a line that will pass down through the ages. The Russian advance was stopped; western countries poured military aid into Ukraine.
And while this meant a few torrid Dáil sessions and a few scratchy radio interviews, it meant that when they eventually did unveil another cost-of-living package in the Budget, they were able to go for a shock-and-awe approach – announcing an €11 billion giveaway, far exceeding expectations. The State’s capacities groaned under the pressure of refugees from the war in Ukraine. Tens of thousands arrived throughout the spring and summer, finding shelter in hotels, holiday homes, all manner of converted facilities and in spare rooms. Approaching the year’s end, the numbers were heading for 70,000, and with the Russian military now unambiguously targeting civilian infrastructure – an admission of weakness, but a savage one – there was no sign of the influx abating.
A few politicians survived scrapes in 2022; the DPP decided not to bring a career-ending prosecution against Leo Varadkar, while Mary Lou McDonald endured a torrid autumn, facing questions first about the financing of her home in a book by Shane Ross and then being name-checked in a gangland criminal trial in which a former party and constituency colleague of hers turned State’s evidence against a former gangland comrade.
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