I’ve started writing a weekly column for the Irish Examiner so I will just post links to the site from here. Last week’s was about the government’s farcical job creation predictions while this week’s was about Sean Gallagher and his connections to Fianna Fail. I have posted the first few paragraphs below…

I HATE to be the one to tell you this but, according to a recent poll, almost two-fifths of you have lost your minds — to be precise, I’m referring to the 39% of the population who seem intent on making Seán Gallagher our next president.

So, let me get this straight. Having lived high on the hog during three successive terms in office, Fianna Fáil blithely sleepwalked the country into the biggest financial crisis in its history. Over 350,000 jobs, not to mention our economic sovereignty, have been lost after crippling austerity measures sucked over €20bn out of the economy — and there are still at least €7bn of cuts yet to come. Meanwhile, the cursed banks will cost us both an arm and a leg and whatever other limbs you happen to possess. 

Quite understandably, given the calamity that befell the country while they were in office, the party was decimated during the last general election with support plummeting from a high of over 40% to just 17%. Now, however, just eight months later, all seems to be forgotten with the de facto Fianna Fáil candidate, incredibly, on course to win the election. God, you’re forgiving…