The hand that feeds us needs do up its menu somewhat

By Paul Kennedy

So. Lisbon. It has nothing to do with the Government.

We’ve been told to not take our locally fuelled anger out on them. That would be foolish. On our parts of course. After all, this has NOTHING to do with how our Government is running things now, so why would they be foolish? Why would they have anything to do with it? This is about Europe. Not Ireland. If the Government is doing things which we don’t like, that’s not Europe’s fault. The Government’s view that a lot of our problems where caused by ‘problems overseas’?
I guess we're supposed to ignore that for a while.
Or something.

For example, NAMA (the ones who take all those foolish loans from the foolish bankers for the good of us all) and McCarthy (Bord Snip, the one the non-fools, IE, the Government, is putting off), they are just a few things that have nothing to do with this. We know this. They’ve told us.
And they’re cleverer then us. We voted for them didn’t we? We don’t elect fools, do we?

And who are we to know? We can’t even make the HARD decisions.

Anyway, so if, like we’ve been told, that whatever we think about the government (which is probably wrong, because they know better), should have NO BEARING on how we vote in Lisbon, how can we take our anger (the anger that runs in the bile of ever-foolish livers) out?

To vote No would be merely slapping the hand that feeds us with?
Well, after it feeds all the Mahon Lawyers with Spar sandwiches and coffee first of course.

The problem is, things have changed. Drastically. The train that is Ireland hasn’t so much gone off the rails as careered into the Broadmeadow estuary, broken viaduct below it, 4.4 million people screaming all the way. We all can’t ignore anymore the excess that the current Government has wasted. Most voters know that Lisbon and our own mess shouldn’t be throw together in the same soufflé, but like it or spit it out, that’s the way our current meal is being served.

And the Government should adapt. Add a new course.

You see, an election is going to happen. Whether it’s good/bad/apocalyptic for Ireland, it will happen. Eventually. And us Irish people, well, we don’t deal in 'eventuallys', not anymore. And, at the moment, all we have is Lisbon. If the Government is so serious about a Yes to Lisbon, the best way to do it is guarantee an election in the near future. Maybe not tomorrow, or even next month, the Irish can wait, and honestly, I don’t think at the moment the newspapers could afford the extra pull out supplements an election would mean.

Revenge, after all, is a dish best served cold.

But two and half years would be mouldy revenge.
But a promise of some sandwiches around January could be nice.

Spar could cater.