Enter Cathy Bennett, Sinn Féin TD for the Cavan–Monaghan constituency, and her headlong collision with how the European Union works.

It starts, as these things often do, with an innocent question that reveals a chasm. At an Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bennett wants to know about the “president of Europe.” Not as an off‑hand phrase, but as a concrete office, a throne that must be filled, a vacancy to which, presumably, the Irish state must send forth a champion. How much, she asks, is the Government spending to “find a candidate” for this post? One imagines a kind of pan‑continental X‑Factor: Leo Varadkar in a sequinned blazer, Ursula von der Leyen juggling dwarfs, a judging panel of scowling technocrats deducting points from Gerry Adams for insufficient fiscal discipline and the like.

The problem is that this person does not exist. There is no president of Europe. There are presidents everywhere, of course – Commission, Council, Parliament – proliferating like mould in the Brussels humidity, but no single crowned head of the continent. The EU, in its infinite genius, has constructed a system that is both impenetrably complex and utterly devoid of the monarchical glamour of the U.S. or French presidencies. The top jobs are traded in back rooms between governments and party families; no one is out there auditioning for the role of Emperor of Schengen.

So when Bennett insists on knowing who Ireland is “backing” for the presidency of this imaginary Europe, the scene takes on a strange, almost theological air. Officials shuffle their papers, trying to reconcile reality with the question. How do you tell a sitting TD that the office that she thought she was interrogating the unfortunate Minister about doesn't exist? Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Neale Richmond, let the hapless TD down very gently, in the same manner a vet would deliver bad news to the owner of a terminally ill puppy.

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His political base was in Dublin Central, a constituency he courted with the relentless patience of a monk illuminating a manuscript. A politically dangerous terrain that likes to eat politicians for breakfast. Donohoe first tried for the Dáil in 2007 and a 2009 by election in Dublin Central. Most people would’ve packed up their manifestos and gone home, but Paschal was a councillor by 2004 and then, in 2007, a Senator. Four years later, persistence finally beat probability: he was elected to the Dáil in 2011, just in time to see the Irish economy still smoking from the crash.

By 2014, he was in Cabinet, handling Transport and Tourism, where he displayed his first major skill: not setting anything on fire. During strikes at Irish Rail, Luas, and Dublin Bus, he managed to broker deals that didn’t involve barricades or burning effigies. For Irish politics, that counts as statesmanship. But eaten bread is soon forgotten. Dublin Central was cut from four seats to three, a moment of pure democratic terror for Donohoe. He scraped through. For this feat of survival, he was rewarded with a promotion to Minister for Public Expenditure, a job that involves telling everyone else they can’t have any more money.

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More power to her. Sure, why not? But let’s not fool ourselves—this campaign is less “Yes We Can” and more “No She Won’t.” Because while Deputy Connolly is busy polishing her grassroots halo, the ghosts of her past are sharpening their knives. Exhibit A: her all-expenses-paid Syrian holiday, courtesy of Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime. Nothing says “President of Ireland” like a junket with a dictator who treats his own people like target practice.

And then there’s her greatest political superpower: the ability to unite people in their disdain for her. Divisive? She makes a cheese grater look like a unifying force.

The Syria problem.

Connolly,…

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Some of you reading this might think they’re politicians, so what’s the big deal? Under the rules of the Dáil, TDs are restricted in what they can say about other TDs. As part of what you can’t say, TDs must not state that another member is guilty of “being deceitful”. There are two issues here, and once you watch the video, you’ll see what they are, and none of them have to do with being called a liar.

The first is that Ceann Comhairle can’t speak Irish, so Verona Murphy wouldn’t have picked up on mischievous Micheál winding up Sinn Féin. The Ceann Comhairle should have working knowledge of Irish as it’s used regularly in the chamber. Sinn Féin'…

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If Bertie Ahern was breakfast roll man, well, Micheál Martin, in today’s hyper-health conscious society, is Muesli man. Breakfast rolls are grand for that early morning feed, but you need some of that slow-release energy to sustain you throughout the day or a Government lifetime.

Don’t rule out Michéal Martin as a three-time Taoiseach. Rumour has it that the 8% of Fianna Fáil who voted against entering the programme for government were all based north of th…

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The opposition came in to the Dáil today with one only one goal and it was to disrupt proceedings and have the Dáil suspeneded. In a rare show of the opposition working together they achieved that goal.

The vote for a new Taoiseach has been suspended until tomorrow morning. But don't be surprised if we have to wait until next week.

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Former Fianna Fáil TD and EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan Quinn said of the interview, "Someone forgot to change the batteries in Pádraig Flynn's smoke alarm, and while sleepwalking through a performance on 'The Late Late Show' he managed…

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He apologised to Mr Quinn’s family for the comments.

“Change!” Mary Lou McDonald proclaims it with a zeal that crackles through the air. Sinn Féin. Yet beneath this storm of “change” lies an enigma: what exactly is “change”?

Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform knows what “change” is not.

If you're looking for change or radical reform, you won't find it in Sinn Féin or Mary Lou McDonald.

"Women all over the country will understand when men try to claim credit for their work."

“On this island, there is no solution to be found to our disagreements by shooting each other. There is no real invader here. We are all Irish in all our different kinds of ways.”

Lynch was always described as - the real Taoiseach, honest Jack, and one of Irish politics true gentlemen.

But behind the gentlemanly demeanour, there was a remarkable strength of character and political courage that helped him navigate the arms crisis that would have ended the careers of most party leaders. How many Taoisigh could have fired two senior ministers and seen a third resign in protest yet still manage to survive and flourish in the aftermath? Very few. But more importantly, he was from Cork.

Every time the starting gun fires to announce a general election since 2002, the slogan “It’s Showtime” explodes onto the scene, capturing the frenetic energy and carnival atmosphere that takes over the political landscape.

An Taoiseach, Simon Harris, has announced he will go to Áras an Uachtaráin this Friday to seek the dissolution of the 33rd Dáil Éireann. Setting the date for the 2024 general election on Friday, 29th of November.

You can dress this up however you want. Visit Victoria's Secret on Grafton Street and buy some lingerie, then go to Brown Thomas and buy some knee-high boots. But the political translation here is that Mary Lou just told Brian Stanley where to go. Mary Lou leaned into the microphone and, with a smirk, said he should “man up and take responsibility for his own. behaviour” on national TV.

He can hardly stay silent now.

Surrounded by Jack Lynch and Gerry Collins, Hillery erupted in a fiery whirlwind of words, defending the leadership with all the fervour of a cornered lion. The air was electric, as he stared down the restless rebels championing Boland. His words cracked like thunder in the air, echoing through the annals of Irish political lore: “Ye can have Boland, but ye can’t have Fianna Fáil.”

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The PAC usually crackles with a bizarre energy, a mix of tension and comedy. On one side of the room, earnest Oirechtas members brandish spreadsheets like swords, ready to do battle over how the taxpayers money is wasted. On the other side nervous NGO’s, semi-state organisations and anyone in receipt of tax payers money shift uneasily at the impending interrogation. It would be fair say they have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to Brian Stanley.

During the surreal spectacle of the Tubridy/RTE, PAC hearings, Stanley turned to Ryan Tubridy's agent, Noel Kelly, and asked what exactly Cadbury's sold. The question hung in the air like a bad smell that everyone pretended not to notice. Leaving those watching whether they were witnessing a political inquisition or a surrealist play, an absurd dance of inquiry where chocolate and controversy intertwined…

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They’re also a massive hit on social media. Particularly on TikTok, where Healy Rae-related views are at over 100 million.

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During the tense press conference Irish Independent political journalist, Fionnan Sheehan can be heard roaring at Minister Martin “Stop shutting down media scrutiny”. The Minister then expressed her frustration with a particular line of questioning. She told one reporter that she had been dealing with this situation for a year and should not be subjected to being shouted at. An emotional Minister emphasised that she did not find Fionnan Sheehan’s behaviour acceptable and it “wouldn’t encourage people to go into politics”

A very strong opponent of populist politics, particularly the Sinn Féín kind.

This exchange between Pearse Doherty and the Taoiseach ended with Leo Varadkar telling the Sinn Féin TD that “it doesn’t take very long for your balaclava to slip”. 

He had criticised Doherty for not condemning the group of people who had attended the house at the centre of an eviction order in Strokestown, “armed with baseball bats injured three or four other people, set cars alight and caused an animal to be shot dead”. 

Varadkar claimed that “when it comes to law and order” and the Sinn Féin party, “It doesn’t take very long for your balaclava to slip.”

Calling out the hypocrisy of Sinn Féin and Mary Lou McDonalds’ populism over covid in the Dáil.