The unavoidable has started here in Ireland.

Once more we have been plunged into a general election.

This election lacks the brash atmosphere of the recent American one but does share an inevitability of the recent British one. There is one significant difference between our one and the British one – in the UK it was inevitable that there would be a change of party and the only question was in the scale of the change, whereas in Ireland the result is already a foregone conclusion.

I sometimes wonder why they bother. The litter the country with their posters as if somehow the photoshopped portrait leering at us from a lamppost is going to convince anyone to vote for them. They wander the countryside in their droves, knocking on doors and generally irritating the population with their false sincerity and promises of all the wonderful things they are going to do for us. How is it that these door-knockers who are so keen for our support won’t darken our doors until the next election? Unless of course we die in which case they will attend at our funeral to show how caring they are. Irish politicians love funerals.

All of this is really a waste of time and effort. I can state without any fear of contradiction that the next gubmint will consist of a coalition of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. They only question is which suckers are they going to convince to join to make up the numbers.

Already we have had a typical pre-election budget to curry favour. Now we are going to hear of all the great plans designed to solve all our woes.

There is one question I would like answered.

They promise something that is going to fix the housing crisis or lower the cost of living.

Why didn’t they introduce those measures when they were in power?