Dublin Opinion

The body strives for that which sickens the mind with love…
Stretches out toward that which smites it, and yearns to couple.” (Lucretius, In the Realm of the Senses, 4.1048)

For all the talk of a presidential campaign - for all the Lunz cuntz focus groups and “Dream On Baby” slipup scoops- this election boiled down to one issue: negative equity. A lot of people had concerns, such as health, crime, and infastructure, and voted in numbers on these concerns. However, enough people came out and voted for the continued maintenance of house prices under a Fianna Fáil government rather than risk a crash under Fine Gael and Labour.

The fear of negative equity was enough to stop not only the “Alliance for Change” - although they came to within six seats of forming a working alternative - it was also enough to put a freeze on Sinn Féin’s assault on FF’s working class base. (For an astute analysis of Sinn Féin’s election preformance, see Balrog.)

Fifteen of Fianna Fáil’s seats were secured on the last count. Of these, however, only four were close enough to have gone to another party or independent. And of those, three were gained at the expense of Sinn Féin. These were: Donegal North East ; Dublin South West ; And Dublin Central, where the 5% drop in Sinn Féin’s vote gave Brady the edge he needed to secure the seat.

Ireland’s new “entrepreneurs” - those who see their house primarily as an investment rather than as a home - swung this election for Fianna Fail. As with Bertie, they also borrow money they don’t have, to fancy up houses they cannot afford, and leave it to others to sort out the downturn.

Fine Gael’s gains in the capital took place alongside a modest upturn in FF’s vote. The exception was Dublin north Central, where Ivor Callely, not unsurprisingly, lost his seat. In the other constituencies, FF’s vote was up.

The pre-election predictions of a Sinn Féin breakthrough in the capital and beyond were not without justification. At the last moment, however, fears about the housing market took over - not the fears of those trying to get a foot on the property ladder, mind, but the fears of those who have already bought.

At the moment when opposition breakthrough was possible, this fear turned out to be the FF’s Paul McGrath, protecting the goal, bandy knee and all. The PDs, however, ate themselves, with Parlon already looking for another bed to sleep in.

but that’s a different story, for another day.