In the wake of the recent wintry weather there has been a lot of comment and apparent surprise at the inadequacy of the government’s reaction. All of it misplaced as far as I am concerned.
I mean was there genuine shock or outrage in the west of the country last year when Sligo Rovers failed to win the Champions League? No there wasn’t. Instead there was an implicit understanding on the part of the supporters that their team was several million light years away from being capable of winning the Champions League. Did we witness scenes of civil unrest in Ballinasloe last Spring when the local club professional Gearoid Mac Giolla Padraig failed to win The Masters in Augusta? No. Because a quick assessment of the achievements, capabilities and limitations of the individual in question could not possibly yield any other conclusion.
We seem to be incapable of applying the same type of measured judgements to members of the cabinet. We harbour some sort of irrational expectation that people with a consistent track record of malpractice, negligence and incompetence are miraculously going to defy logic, precedent and history and actually do something useful.
Noel Dempsey was in Malta for most of it, well thank Christ for that. Imagine the mess we’d have on our hands if the clown was actually around to make a few decisions.
You might get away with entering a Shetland pony in the Gold Cup, but don’t get too despondent when he can’t get over the first fence.
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