Eoghan Harris (Independent)

In the great Tipperary amhrán mór, Slievenamon, there is the line "...mar sheolfaí aoireacht bó gan aoire", which translates roughly as: "We were driven along the roads of Slievenamon like a herd without a herdsman". I fear this is how the political process is being driven by sections of the media, particularly the broadcast shock-jock section. It is time we had a debate on broadcasting and politics. The political process in a recession is very vulnerable to being degraded by that form of fascism called poujadism, which involves instant populist demands for action. I saw a couple of examples in recent weeks. Consider the business of the head shops, for instance. There were calls on Joe Duffy's "Liveline" to close them down. Head shops have caused the collapse of the heroin and cocaine trades in Dublin and of the lucrative Real IRA trade. This is why the Real IRA is shooting head shop owners. There are two sides to every question. Politics puts a brake on the kind of populism to which I refer and results in debate on the two sides. However, that debate did not take place regarding head shops or the George Lee debacle. The politicians were being told they should accept the Messiah who will shake them all up.

We are told that, because of a recession, we must listen to Michael O'Leary lecture the Tánaiste. I hold no brief for the Tánaiste — she is not very competent in her job — but she is the Tánaiste. No businessman or buccaneer should have the right to bully or browbeat anybody into a new favourable situation. Senators should have a bit of respect for themselves, given that they are not up for election as are Members of the Dáil, and start putting brakes on the kind of instant shock-jock, Rush Limbaugh populism that is disgracing and denigrating Irish politics.