You would think that, after the enforced Irish bailout, Taoiseach Brian Cowen would show either shame or remorse, bowing to the demands of his people to resign, and call a general election. But not a bit of it. Faced with a challenge from his own minister for foreign affairs, Micheál Martin, Cowan pulls a blinder, announcing that he was to tabling a motion of confidence - in himself, thereby catching his opponent off-balance, and giving himself a tactical advantage.

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Would I be wrong in saying twas ever thus?

I thought John Major and his bunch of dribblers and shufflers were prime examples…

Interesting to note that in Ireland politicians are now in the top 5% of earners. Not so much noses in the trough but hands in the till.

After reading some of Pat Gunning's stuff, he said that we all vote in self-interest so we cannot assume otherwise that our politicians will act in their self-interest. The electorate are the only brakes on their self-interest but a political system must be designed to remove corruption and blantant self-interest. I guess the electorate must also have some grit in their blood. The MSM seem to forget about the nature of politicians and give them an easy ride despite the recent hoo hah over endemic till pilfering.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE of this breed popped up on this morning's Today programme - William Hague pontificating about the situation in Tunisia and welcoming the supposed increase in democracy there. With the bulk of our own legislation dictated by the EU, it would be nice to have some restored. Here is a man, most of who's functions have been taken over by Catherine Ashton (selected in a completely anti-democratic way from the swamp of quangocracy), allowed to spout for quite a long time, as if he had some importance and influence in a matter over which he has not the slightest control. I doubt whether the banner headlines of the Tunis press will be "HAGUE SPEAKS". One has to ask "What is that man for?" and answer comes there none!

Major did exactly the same to wrong-foot his Eurosceptic opponents and the Tories went on to spend 13 years in electoral oblivion.

An Irish general election now would really rock the EU's boat, because the Irish people are angry and want to give their "masters" a good kicking, and the Irish can be very scary when they get angry.

I guess that Cowan (and his backers within the Irish/EU establishment) feel that they just need some time to soft-soap the Irish voters (using their own money) and bring things back to an acceptable equilibrium, just as they've done each time the EU has lost a referendum in Ireland.

I suspect that FF will still take a justified pasting in the general election when it happens. The Irish people will believe that they've made their point but, like in the UK, the EU will have hold of all the major levers of power so it won't make any difference at all.

The New Politicians are, however, sadly much worse than rats - they will not even leave sinking ships, instead concentrating on widening any holes whilst stealing the remaining bottles of whisky!

You'd be right in saying there was never a golden age in which all politicians were honest, upright people acting as best they could in the national interest, but it's a matter of degree and blatancy and it corresponds with the rise of the career politician. There were always people who never had a career outside politics, but these past couple of decades the tendency has increased enormously.

Probably not but in previous eras the damage and interference into our lives these crooks could do and wanted to do was much less than today. They may even have been certain that part of their job was to restrain the State. Today they see it as their job to facilitate the State in whatever way necessary.

We look on with interest and not a little anger. Gormley and the Greens demanded an election this month - then demand their own cursed legislation should come first. Now we might have to wait months to voice our anger... not that it will change anything unless a movement to leave the EU develops. Or to ditch the euro.
An OpEd you might find interesting:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/co ... 42365.html

Hague has a cheek lecturing about an 'oppostion'. Perhaps he ought to look at the farce of the Northern Ireland Assembly. 5 parties in Government, no opposition...a cosy concensus, Ministerial incomptence ignored and nothing of note delivered in 10 years.

The post and the comments seem to sum up the problem very well. In my fairly long life I do not think it has been taken to this level before. The rot started after the 1945 election when we got not Labour but socialism, we got the likes of "make them squeal" Healey, an Officer and a gentleman (not) leading to penury and the IMF. From there it was all downhill until now we have three socialist parties sharing the spoils, our money and our lives. The stink of hypocracy over the HoC is beginning to rival that of "the Great Stink" of the Thames at an earlier time in our history. It is not a change in voting we need but a change in the people we can vote for, less nouveax riches, spoilt brats who never did a proper job in their lives, our PM epitomises this trait. Where is a Cromwell when you really need him!

Shame and remorse are not in any Irish politician's vocabulary. We don't have a "resignation culture", we have a brazen it out culture. And we're quite good at victimhood too. This stems in part from our ultra-lefty media coupled with our choice of political parties which ranges from social-centrist through to the ultra-left (Greens or Sinn Fein). Lots of choice there for everyone.
The Greens are hanging in to the coalition to get their blasted climate change bill through - it seems similar enough to the UK version (probably copied verbatim) - 80% reduction in economic activity and living standards by 2050 or something.

Some of you may find the following article interesting
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-the-hibernobritish-dance-through-time-goes-on-but-it-obeys-no-rules-of-science-or-history-2499901.html

Seems though the nation has a death wish ... perhaps paving the way for the rest of us, on a model being developed in Australia. This is how Western civilisation ends - the Muslim threat is the least of our problems, and in fact a symptom of the greater decay. The problem is the enemy within.