It’s been called a political ‘earthquake’, ‘avalanche’, ‘volcano’ of greater significance than the dramatic results of the 2011 election. Many are left scratching their heads as to what the results of Election 2016 tell us about what is happening to the Irish party political system. In seeking to assess its meaning, the important first point is to place it in the context of longer-term shifts as no one election on its own is sufficient to…
Tag: 2016
Election 2016: Trading on ignorance and make-believe
About the one certainty we can take from the first days of election 2016 is that it is far from being a coronation of Enda Kenny and Fine Gael. Already under pressure from the virtually meaningless concept of ‘fiscal space’, the Irish Times opinion poll showing a drop in the party’s support set the entirely wrong mood music for the party. It all serves to enhance the spectacle of politics as spectator sport. Nothing happened…