'If he was in my area, I'm not sure I could resist voting for The Monk, for the message it would send to Government
'With so many gangsters in the Dail, why not elect one in?'
I reckon Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch has a serious chance of getting elected in Dublin Central, a place where you couldn't blame a lot of voters for feeling disaffected. The streets of the capital are out of control and nobody seems to care.
With so many gangsters in the Dail, why not elect one in? Especially one with celebrity and personality who appears to do a lot for the local community. And - rightly or wrongly - understands the concerns of ordinary people more than some soft-handed minister with a driver ever could.
I'd prefer a gangland figure to any of youse crowd, is what you'd be saying with that vote. I'm on the other side of the inner-city. But if The Monk was my constituency, I'm not sure I'd be able to resist voting for him, for the message it would send.
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Not to go all Mystic Meg, but I sense a shock is coming in the General Election. Like all the best psychics, I don't know exactly what it is, or how it will manifest, but I feel we're going to get a surprise next Friday, after a low-key campaign.
I was out on canvass earlier this week and there was something in the atmosphere among voters. A lot said they hadn't made up their mind yet what they'll do in the voting booth. What are they thinking? What are they not saying? Anyone paying attention could see what was coming last time out in 2020, during the height of the housing crisis - the Sinn Fein surge.
Satirist Oliver Callan joked at the time about how a wheelie bin with a Sinn Fein sticker could get elected.
This time, ahead of General Election 2024, it's different. It doesn't look likely from here, but could it be that Fine Gael is about to get a nasty shock? The party headed by Taoiseach Simon Harris is seeking an unprecedented fourth term in office and is polling highest at 24 per cent.
A tweet this week from legendary broadcaster Vincent Browne, probably the most highly-regarded political journalist in Ireland, was interesting. He posted: "Fine Gael's conduct in this election campaign has been extraordinary? the failure over 13 years to provide houses for those who need them, the spectacular wastage of public money, the mountains of our cash to buy our votes? a determination to shout down opponents in debates. Well done."
It summed up what a lot of people feel about the party and how it has treated citizens since it took power in 2011.
Another global political trend to be aware of is what's being called the "super year" of elections. Sitting governments all over the world are getting thrown out by disgruntled voters, on the left and right.
Donald Trump's recent success is the latest in a line of losses for incumbent parties, with 40 out of 54 elections in Western democracies going that way.
Cost of living, inflation and a general understanding we're all now working twice as hard to get half as far in life is driving voter discontent. Issues with rising migration is adding to the sense of protest. There's an overall frustration with political elites, viewed as out of touch.
Here, we're sick of the squandering of our taxes, by people in charge who treat public funds like Monopoly money. The bike shed has gone into the national consciousness; things like the unnecessary Return scheme really annoy people. Meanwhile the housing crisis is a festering ill on society, a decade on, cruelly bedded in, but not forgiven.
It's hard to know how this protest will show itself in the results of our elections, but somehow, it will.
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