A government unable to do its job uses lots of your money to get someone else to – but new tsar is destined for failure
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TAOISEACH Micheal Martin seemed more exercised by the pronouncements of Northern Irish rap band Kneecap this week than any of the plethora of crises afflicting little old Ireland.
The naive
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Martin should have played his cards close to the chest on Kneecap
Credit: PA
Which is why I won't be repeating what it's alleged they said.
It was puerile and undeserving of widespread public acknowledgment.
Moral outrage is one of the weakest emotions. Squash it underfoot wherever you come upon it.
The band have since apologised but will suffer the indignity of having more future gigs cancelled, no doubt, as the bandwagon of indignation gathers speed.
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It may well have the opposite of course, and make them must-see material.
Controversy is always good for
The Taoiseach should have kept his counsel when asked to comment on
It didn't make him appear down with the
Most read in The Irish Sun
Then again, maybe he's a die-hard Kneecap fan and felt compelled to stick his oar in, give his tuppence worth.
Micheal, the secret rap fan.
'It just makes me happy', says legendary singer Elton John as he praises 'brave' Irish musicians
Even if he is, it's always squirm-inducing to witness old fogies talk about youth culture.
Leave the rap to the rappers, Micheal. There are far bigger issues crowding your plate.
Like the perpetual haunting ghost that it is, the housing crisis continued to dominate debate in the
Why? Well, as has been the case since time immemorial, the Government has chosen NOT to grasp the nettle, but to pass the buck.
Not content with having a Housing Minister to deal with the problem of building homes,
WASHING HANDS OF PROBLEM
Explicit in the establishment of this new quango, because that's all it is, is the acknowledgement by government that it is INCAPABLE of solving the
Someone else needs to do it. If the quango fails, it won't be down to us.
Wash your hands of the problem and it kind of goes away.
Which, if you are Housing Minister James Browne, must feel like a giant kick in the you-know-whats. Or you would have thought.
But apparently, Mr Browne is keen on a new Housing Tsar, and he'd lobbied for current Nama chief, Brendan McDonagh, but he turned it down last night.
PLUM ROLE BLASTED
Apoplectic,
She raged at Martin: 'Nearly half a million euro. An astonishing amount of taxpayers' money for the salary of just one person.
'It's the starting salary of eleven new nurses, or eleven new
'What is to be the role of this new highly paid tsar?
"From what we have heard, he will focus on removing roadblocks to housing construction, to getting houses built more quickly and to speeding up housing delivery.
'In other words, he will take on the main responsibilities of the Minister for Housing."
'NO CONFIDENCE'
She went on: 'It is a very expensive job share. It is clear the Taoiseach's Government has no confidence in the ability of the minister, Deputy James Browne, to do his job.'
He told an incredulous Dail: 'The head of Nama, which oversaw the fire sale of thousands of homes and billions of euro of development land, is being headhunted.' He was, yes, but wisely decided he didn't want any part of it.
So, with their first choice for czar fallen by the wayside, what's the Government going to do now?
The €430,000 salary sticks in the craw of many, including twitchy-arsed Government backbenchers.
NAUSEATING PROPOSITION
Ordinary folk haven't two red cents to rub against each other from day to day, so the thought of handing over the guts of half a million quid on a 'job share' is nauseating.
The Government will have to cast a wide net to attract anyone. No matter who they get they won't be able to achieve much.
They'll huff and puff but they won't be able to unblock or speed up a system that has been utterly dysfunctional for, well, forever.
Knocking heads together is an alien concept to those in possession of the reins of power in Ireland. If they had it in them all these years they've led us, we wouldn't be in the do-do we're in now.
And they wouldn't be outsourcing a fundamental task in the middle of an emergency to someone else. But that's what they're attempting to do. Those who govern us simply aren't made of the right stuff.
Electing people who've got it just isn't in our DNA.
PEIRRE'S POETIC JUSTICE
JUST a few short months ago,
So much so, that they were a clear 30 per cent ahead of their nearest challengers, The Liberal Party.
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Pierre Poilievre is little more than a Trump wannabe
Credit: Getty
Then along came Trump and it all fell apart at the seams for Pierre and his pals.
The Liberals, led by former
It resonated and the Liberals won last Monday's elections.
The Conservatives did poll well, securing their best result since 1988, but it wasn't enough to take the reins of power.
As well as losing the election, the Conservative leader Poilievre lost his own seat in parliament to a guy called Bruce Fanjoy.
Poetic justice, eh?
GROWING GOLD
HOW on earth does a goldfish live to be 34?
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Ireland's longest living goldfish is 34
Credit: Getty
She feeds it a few flakes every morning and cleans out the barrel now and then.
She said: 'I'd like to think Olivia could be Ireland's oldest goldfish but you never know, there could be another out there to beat it.'
I remember getting a goldfish in my early days as a dad. He died after three days.
I did everything right. Kept his bowl clean and aerated, and gave him just the right amount of food.
But he still kicked the bucket. I couldn't tell my two boys, so I went back to the pet store and bought another goldfish.
He was identical. They all are. My lads wouldn't notice.
And, they didn't. Until my eldest came running into me one morning, about three days later if I remember correctly, to say Goldfish Number Two was 'floating upside down'.
The second bugger had died too.
Thankfully, my boys, at that time aged just four and two, had memories like goldfish and the death was soon forgotten.
We got a
15YRS ON AND STILL MISSED
I STOPPED listening to 2FM 15 years ago when
His three-hour show every weekday morning from nine to midday was essential listening.
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RTE has never been the same since Gerry Ryan passed away
Credit: PA:Press Association
He blended seriousness with comedy, laughter with tears. He was the ultimate free-spirit. An anarchist of the airwaves.
To tune in was to be brought on a journey to where you never quite knew. And that was the fascination.
He held the nation in the palm of his hand. His death at the age of just 53 on April 30, 2010 came as a huge shock to the nation.
He truly was loved.
His irreverence, his wit, his sarcasm, his empathy, his deep affection for life and those who lived it to the full, was infectious.
Mind you, if he were still on air, I doubt it very much that he'd have got away with half the stuff that was de rigueur back then.
The woke luvvies would have been triggered at every single Gerry utterance, which would have been a joy to behold.
G Ryan. You're still terribly missed.
BLACKOUT CONFUSION
FIVE days after
Some blamed Spain's rush to renewable energy but the country's power company, Red Electrica, rubbished this.
A cyberattack has not been ruled out, nor has the possibility of the nefarious involvement of an outside state, with some suggesting Russian involvement.
Spain's top court has ordered investigators to come up with a definitive answer within ten days.
After they know for sure, the authorities can then plan so it never happens again in the future.
GRANDPA GANG
KIM
Now, nine of those allegedly involved are on trial in
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Kim Kardashian was attached by The Grandpa Gang in Paris in 2016
Credit: Getty
The 'Grandpa' gang are all in their 60s and 70s. One has cancer, one is totally deaf and another has Alzheimer's.
Yunice Abbas, 71, who wrote a book about the heist while on remand, has had a triple heart bypass.
Kim told David Letterman a few years back how the gang, handcuffed and gagged her before making their getaway, including Abbas, who fled on a BICYCLE.
Terrifying, alright.
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