Dissolve the Dáil now, I say

If I were the President I’d dissolve the Dáil immediately on my own initiative. No waiting for the no confidence votes next week.

Not very democratic I know. But the government in complete disarray, 6 cabinet ministers vacant because the two coalition parties can't agree on filling them, and, as of this afternoon, the Taoiseach no longer the leader of his party …

On the other hand, here's one advantage of sticking to the March 11th date for the general election, announced yesterday (or was it the day before): there are two new political movements springing up which will make Irish politics more interesting. And they need time to organise. I dare say for them every extra day counts.

Joe Higgins in the Dail. 
Currently he's an MEP, not a TD.

One is the United Left Alliance, which includes Joe Higgins and the Socialist Party.

They say they are opposed to the governments’ bailouts and the slash and burn policies which are only making the crisis worse. In the general election they aim to provide a real alternative to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, as well as Labour and Sinn Fein, who also accept the capitalist market.

The other is even more recent, just in the past few days (or at least I only became aware in the past few days). It's something called the New Ireland Movement.  For over a year, I've listened to callers to talk radio shows like Liveline moaning on that they want “a new political party”.  I say moaning on because what characterised these callers was an extreme naïveté about what a political parity is. They didn’t even to appear to know whether they were seeking a new left-wing party or a new right wing-party.  Well I think they’ve got a new right-wing party. But I'm not quite clear how right-wing.  I suppose in the next few days or weeks we'll find out.

See Elaine Byrne in yesterday’s Irish Times, Loosely aligned Independents could have significant impact in next Dáil.  There's David McWilliams, an economist, and a 35-year old management consultant called Donnelly. Elaine Byrne says they are primarily well-educated young professionals in their 30’s, many of them female, and most of whom had never engaged in formal politics until now, exceptionally hostile to Fianna Fáil and particularly negative towards Enda Kenny and political parties in general.