‘Skullduggery!’ cried the ruling Fianna Fail party, questioning the timing and the sources of the latest disclosure.
‘Questions still to be answered!” replied the opposition.
“Who cares!’ roared the nation.
And it is this sentiment from an increasingly exasperated public that has finally laid the issue to rest. We Irish have been living off the fat of the land for the last ten years, the exact duration of the present two-term administration. Now, going for a third successive election victory, Prime Minister Ahern might be benefiting from the prosperity he and the Irish people created. For when we look out at our new cars, from our newly purchased homes, in leafy satellite towns dotted all around this tiny island of ours, we can’t help but attribute our new found riches to this man. Even if you didn’t vote for him or his party, Bertie, as he is affectionately known, is one of us. His often unconventional syntax and mispronunciation only serve to endear him to us more. His love of Gaelic football and sport in general create the impression of a down to earth bloke with down to earth attitudes. It is this response that the opposition cannot come to terms with. Having revealed all the contributions of financial “aid” he received throughout his political life, the opposition expected his personal ratings to plummet. They went the other way. The Prime Minister’s ratings rose by six percent and the opposition leader’s popularity fell. What is now known as the ‘Bertie Bounce’ reflected exactly what the Irish people were thinking.
‘Leave our Bertie alone!’
But with an ongoing nurses strike that shows no signs of ending, a shambolically run health service, rising inflation and gridlock in every major city, all is not lost for the increasingly beleaguered opposition leader, Enda Kenny. It would appear he has finally realized that he can’t get his hands on power by attacking Bertie, because by going after the PM, in effect, he is going after all of us. No, he needs to concentrate on the issues and highlight the massive waste of taxpayer’s money that this present administration has squandered on a failed electronic voting system and on the construction of toll roads that only caused congestion instead of solving it. He needs to focus on crime and especially gangland style murders that are now common place in
By Carl Power
Dublin, Ireland.
Leave Your Comments