Something different for a change, I decided. As you well know, this is usually a serious-minded, probing column that expertly traverses the dense and labyrinthine terrain of Irish political culture… no really, it is! Indeed this week presented plenty of the petty public battles that constitute the governance of our state. The growing pile-on currently knocking the wind out of Simon Harris, for example, couldn’t look more appealing. Or indeed, the Taoiseach’s obvious aversion to touching any conversation concerning the future of Northern Ireland with a ten-foot pole (or any kind of poll for that matter). But even the most hardboiled of us muckraking newshounds need a break from the grind, so I managed to pull myself away from my twine-covered corkboard and told my secretary to cancel my four o’clock with Peadar Tóibín; it was time that I took in some culture.
It would be good to get away from politics for a bit. Perhaps I could even write one of those jaunty little pieces that might get me on morning TV like How to Make a Swan out of Leftover Potatoes, or Crochet for the Criminally Insane. Oh, to sit and smile on a couch with two glamorous presenters instead of trudging through the seedy back halls of Leinster House doing everything I legally can for a scoop. A simple pat on the back and a sly smile from Dáithí, that’s all us columnists really need! Yes, it was time that I escaped the political gutter, so I made my way out to a play.
Full column in this week’s Print & Digital Edition.
