Dáil or no dáil?

Let’s play a game shall we?

Lots of different boxes. In each one, a different permutation of parties after the upcoming Genreal Election.

You can choose a particular box to eliminate it from the game. If it’s red, then you have gotten rid of a good outcome for the country. If it’s blue, you have spared yourself something like a Sinn Féin/PD coalition.

But just to spice things up, every so often the phone will ring. You will not be sure whose will be the voice at the other end of the line.

Maybe it’s Enda “Can He?” offering you a viable alternative – even if it is just a hairstyle.

Maybe it’s Pat “Roger” Rabbitte offering to go back on any word he’s given before.

Maybe it’s Michael “Herr” MacDowell offering to sell the country to the devil so long as the Celtic Tiger nouveau-riche pay lower taxes.

Maybe it’s Gerry “Grizzly” Adams offering everything he knows he can never deliver.

Each time a call comes through, Comrade Bertski will look you squarely in the eye and ask : “Dáil or no Dáil?”

I’ll tell you what – I’m sick and tired of all this who’s-going-into-coalition-with-whom speculation in the media. All too often there have been interviews broadcast where precious time was wasted trying to put party leaders on the spot and hoping they trip themselves up in the process.

Let’s face it – we’re stuck with multiple parties, and a coalition of some sort is inevitable. Is it too much to ask the candidates to simply outline their policies between now and May so we can make our own choices?

Partnership agreements will only be made AFTER the votes are counted, and by then, there’s feck all we can do about it.