So Brian has gone. Not the best person to lead the party but still the one to lead the country.
For the next 7 weeks at the least -in his eyes. Within minutes the opposition were calling for a snap election and Brian Cowen to dissovle the Dail. a day later Fianna Fail’s coalition partners the Greens pulled out of the government leaving it likely we’ll have an election within four weeks. Now I’m not sorry to see Fianna Fail out of government and from some of the polls it looks like a while before they’ll be back. Their previous leaders such as Bertie Ahern and Charlie Haughey have not exactly covered themselves in glory, being more likely to be associated with brown bags of cash and corruption. Ireland desperately needs some leaders who will demonstrate integrity and the best interests of the people ahead of their own party or wealth of their cronies.
But is a snap election the best way? Do any of the other parties have solid policies to lead us out of the mess we are in? Would it be better to wait another few weeks, or is it best just to get another coalition in who will struggle along? Do we have any other options?
Irish politics certainly isn’t going to be dull over the next few weeks…
the soapbox 
Two years ago I wrote here in my what a shame it was that the only two real candidates were two 50-plus white guys who like the other three Councilmen have been on the the Council for several terms each. While all those men are responsible for the great city we are proud of today and continue to show strong leadership I asked why we did not have a more diverse group of candidates interested enough to run and better represent the current Arcadia demographic breakdown that includes a significant percentage of women Chinese and young adults..Well two years later we have a far better demographic mix of candidates that includes a woman four contenders of Asian descent and at least one much younger candidate getting into the race alongside three longstanding white male Councilmen. Over the next weeks and months well all have to decide which of them will best represent us and protect preserve and advance our fair city regardless of their age or culture..