Some in the Dublin establishment and media regard demands of regional Independents as ‘parish pump’ but concerns of urban TDs as ‘progressive’ and ‘socially concerned’
Micheál Martin and Simon Harris could lead a coalition with support from a reliable grouping among the Independents. Photograph: Niall Carson/PAwill coincide very closely with the five-year cycle for the local and European Parliament elections. This probably means that there will be fewwhich will most likely take place in summer 2029 — apart from the presidential elections in 10 months and perhaps in some referendums.
There is always the danger that the Dublin establishment and media regard the demands of regional Independents as “parish pump” or “parochial” but regard the concerns of urban TDs for regeneration programmes as “progressive” and “socially concerned”. Having come from a Fine Gael background and having served as an officeholder with Fianna Fáil for eight years, I think I have a good grasp of how those parties regard each other. They have far more in common than divides them. There is no substantial moral or ethical gap between their values, as some of their supporters like to believe.
Is housing policy nowadays regarded as the “Angola” that was Brian Cowen’s description of the health portfolio? Reading Eoghan Murphy’s memoir, Running From Office, I came across an interesting reference to a wistful utterance from a senior Custom House official to the effect that life had been simpler when they had only to deal with the environment and local government rather than responsibility for housing policy.
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