Draw Breath

I recall being in South Africa a few years ago and seeing the minister for justice rejecting a national High Court ruling on the SA government's bonkers HIV policy on the grounds that, because the court was in Pretoria, it had no jurisdiction beyond the Guateng province. It was a depressing moment, combining a disgraceful political stance with a sneering dismissal of the role of courts in maintaining the principle that society ought to be ruled by laws not people.

Beverly Cooper-Flynn's re-admission into Fíanna Fáil last week, based on a unanimous decision of the Parliamentary Party, was just as dispiriting.

Well, so much has been written on Irish blogs about last week's election, with (amongst some dross) more excellent analyses than I could name here, marvellous titles and downright bitterness. And then there was the spectacular logistical and technical achievements of the Irish Election blog and Politics.ie (noticed across the Atlantic too).

Anyway, I really didn't have a huge emotional investment on the election: I wasn't particularly supporting any team, though the team I supported second-least won (more on the team I supported least below). I'm not convinced that a FG-Labour victory would have made an enormous difference to the country, even if I'm with Simon McGarr in thinking that 17 years out of 20 is more than enough for any political party, even if they are Ireland's version of Congress. And, despite what I said before, I do sometimes wonder what would happen if someone leaked photos of Bertie eating a puppy with one hand and personally poisoning our water with the other: Taoiseach for life, I'd say.

So, I'm neither pleased nor displeased in party disposition terms. That said, I do think that the history of the 29^th Dáil can tell us some highly discouraging things about the one we're about to have.