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Videos: 8 examples of how Irish politics is just like The Thick of It

And one Irish political saga that is just too bizarre even for a plotline on the British political sitcom….

THE BRITISH POLITICAL sitcom The Thick of It has returned to our screens with many bizarre and surreal plots but it turns out they may not be that surreal or unlikely.

Much of what we see from Malcolm Tucker and co is loosely based on situations and stories that have occurred in British politics for example the current real-life furore over a minister allegedly calling police officers plebs could easily feature in the Armando Iannuci comedy.

But there are plenty of recent examples in Irish politics of gaffes and mishaps that could easily make for plots in The Thick of It. Here are just a few of many examples:

1. The new TD makes a holy show of herself:

Her first day in the Dáil and the newly-elected Fine Gael TD for Dun Laoghaire, Mary Mitchell-O’Connor, got a little lost as this video details:

YouTube:

2. Country’s leader tells the world that his people “went mad”:

Amid one of the worst economic recessions in the history of the State with sky-high unemployment and a growing number of people in mortgage arrears the last thing we needed was Taoiseach Enda Kenny telling the world that “people simply went mad with borrowing”.

It was in sharp contrast to his State of the Nation address the previous December as this video points out:

YouTube:

3. Days after embarrassing EU-IMF bailout, Finance Minister tells the people they did too much partying:

Similar to Enda above but perhaps even more enraging as just days after Ireland was forced into a humiliating bailout that arguably gifted the sovereignty the men of 1916 et al. fought for back to someone else, Brian Lenihan tells us on national television that it was actually our fault, not that of the government or its policies:

YouTube:

4. Former Taoiseach is harangued by a member of the public during a TV interview:

On his last day in the Dáil, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern gets a bit of grief from future TD Joan Collins who asks has he no shame given the state of the nation. It’s the kind of awkward haranguing that no politician wants:

YouTube:

5. Former Finance Minister who had no bank account is forced to explain what he did with the money:

Bertie Ahern tells Mike Murphy that he “cashed the cheques” and got “meself a house”:

YouTube:

6. The leader of the country goes on national radio and later has to deny he was drunk

You all know the story by now and if not you can read about it here but it is safe to say that Brian Cowen’s infamous performance on Morning Ireland was the talk of the world’s media and Jay Leno. Morto:

YouTube:

7. A government minister has to field questions on a model’s Playboy shoot:

It is fair to say that Transport Minister Leo Varadkar was not expecting questions about model Rosanna Davison’s topless Playboy shoot when he went on Vincent Browne recently but then it happened and it was cringe worthy.

8. Country’s leader plays with his phone during an address from the Pope… and is caught on camera:

Poor Enda makes his second appearance in the list but it’s not without reason given he didn’t do himself any favours by messing about with his phone during an address from the Pope in Rome just last week. Would you ever put it down, Enda:

And the incident too bizarre even for The Thick of It…

  • Frankly the time that Michael Healy-Rae had to explain how during his time as a contestant on Celebrities Go Wild over 3,600 calls were placed from a phone inside Leinster House in support of him was just too bizarre.

Read, watch: The Thick of It is back tonight so here’s 5 classic Malcolm Tucker moments

Watch: 9 videos that sum-up Ireland’s banking and economic collaps

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23 Comments
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    Mute rathminer
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:31 PM

    Hilarious to think anybody could say ‘no’. Awards heavily influence everybody’s movie decisions. Anybody who says otherwise hasn’t thought about it enough. So there.

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    Mute Adrian De Cleir
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:38 PM

    True, they influence mine, not cause I believe an awarded movie is better but because it’s far more likely to be marketed properly.

    ALSO, lets be fair, awarded movies are rarely absolutely terrible. Whereas if a movie is really really bad it defo won’t get an award.

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    Mute Bernadette Dunne
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:47 PM

    I do not take any notice of the awards I do not watch them and I do not read about them as far as I am concerned I find them BORING I love films but I will choose my own and so far I have not seen many I do not enjoy I do not need the media or anyone else tell me what film I will enjoy…..

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    Mute Matt Crosbie
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    Jan 15th 2012, 2:02 PM

    Bernadette, 100%

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    Mute Roddie Cleere
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    Jan 15th 2012, 3:02 PM

    Load of crap

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    Mute Pat Ryan
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    Jan 15th 2012, 6:10 PM

    Hahahaha! AND no. Frankly, I go to the cinema pretty often, and usually the movies up for awards I give a rats about have already been on, or I’ve already passed on seeing them. They occasionally influence my DVD rentals I will admit, but that option isn’t available in the poll.

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    Mute Barry O'Keeffe
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    Jan 15th 2012, 4:01 PM

    I use the following criteria.
    Q. Is Hulk Hogan in the Film?
    Yes! Rent it
    No! Don’t rent it!

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    Mute Val Kearney
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    Jan 15th 2012, 4:12 PM

    Same principal can also be used for the following: Laurence Fishburn, Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, Scarlett Johannson, Megan Fox and the voice of Morgan Freeman.

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    Mute Matt Crosbie
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:10 PM

    not in the slightest

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    Mute Wujashtop
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:08 PM

    Of course they influence my decision. That spent mean a film is always worth watching. The Iron Lady is shite for example…

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    Mute Wujashtop
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:08 PM

    Doesn’t

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    Mute damien o'c
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    Jan 15th 2012, 2:52 PM

    if you have a smartphone download the rotten tomatoes app. great when you’re standing in xtravision add wondering if a video is crap or not. there’s a critics rating and an audience rating and its usually fairly spot on..

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    Mute Michael Sullivan
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    Jan 15th 2012, 3:49 PM

    Xtravision still exisits?!?

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    Mute Eamonn Clancy
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    Jan 15th 2012, 5:00 PM

    I just go through the latest torrents and download whatever catches my eye.

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    Mute Val Kearney
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:39 PM

    Only one I can think of in recent years has been the Hurt Locker.

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    Mute Finnian Curran
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    Jan 15th 2012, 2:18 PM

    absolutely fantastic film

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    Mute Ian F.
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    Jan 15th 2012, 6:14 PM

    I was very disappointed with that film…

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    Mute Ian F.
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    Jan 15th 2012, 5:12 PM

    Awards don’t influence me at all. They’re all rigged anyway and I honestly couldn’t give a crap who wins what – I watch things that are of interest to me, subject or genre wise. That whole fake red carpet and badly disguised resentment… it’s just not my thing.

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    Mute Danny D
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    Jan 15th 2012, 7:20 PM

    Overpaid actors and directors with constant need to reassurance of how talented they all are with awards and lavish parties to celebrate themselves …

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    Mute Fiachra Maolmordha Ó Raghallaigh
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    Jan 15th 2012, 4:48 PM

    Film reviews, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic are generally what I look at. Those generally give a more balanced overview than Hollywood self-back patting.

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    Mute Laura Crowe
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    Jan 15th 2012, 4:21 PM

    Imdb is your friend in this regard.

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    Mute Paul Breen
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    Jan 15th 2012, 3:46 PM

    Of course, Oscars, Palme d’Or, Berlin Film Festival. I make sure to watch the winners of all those, and so far I’ve not been disappointed.

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    Mute Shane Brehony
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    Jan 15th 2012, 9:47 PM

    Yes as most films that are nominated for these awards , Are the ones that i choose not to go and see because most are nominated films are usually muck ie . No country for old men

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    Mute John Staunton
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    Jan 15th 2012, 2:51 PM

    as always with the journal polls there are never enough options, so my answer is:yes the awards do influence my decision because they make me aware of the movies existence so will usually check the rating and reviews on imdb.com and make up my mind if its worth a go.

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    Mute Jamie Walsh
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    Jan 15th 2012, 10:22 PM

    That’d be a reaaaaaaaallllyyy long option.

    I think they’re trying to be a bit more succinct.

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    Mute John Staunton
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    Jan 16th 2012, 12:45 AM

    lol ok you got me!

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    Mute John Staunton
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    Jan 16th 2012, 12:44 AM

    some people have said the awards go to crap movies, let just look at the last few winners. I count one bad movie out of the last 12 and thats chicago, the rest are top drawer entertainment

    2010 – “The King’s Speech”
    2009 – “The Hurt Locker”
    2008 – “Slumdog Millionaire”
    2007 – “No Country for Old Men”
    2006 – “The Departed”
    2005 – “Crash”
    2004 – “Million Dollar Baby”
    2003 – “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
    2002 – “Chicago”
    2001 – “A Beautiful Mind”
    2000 – “Gladiator”
    1999 – “American Beauty”

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    Mute Micheal Nagle
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    Jan 16th 2012, 9:50 AM

    I wonder how many of the people who said ‘No’ to this poll have seen any of the movies that John has just listed?

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    Mute Proinsias Matthews
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    Jan 15th 2012, 8:41 PM

    I probably would never of seen Crash if it hadn’t got Best Picture at the Oscars but now that I think about it that’s just about it. Lots of awards go to bad movies that mainly Americans find good but don’t agree with my taste.

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    Mute Eoin Kelly
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    Jan 16th 2012, 12:29 AM

    No but the chances of seeing some boob action does!

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    Mute Gwyn Morgan
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    Jan 16th 2012, 12:19 AM

    yes. I keep a close eye on the winners, assume that they must be schmaltzy lowest-common denominator garbage and then avoid them like the plague

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    Mute Niall O'Keeffe
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    Jan 16th 2012, 10:16 AM

    I actually don’t pay any attention to whether a film has won awards or not when deciding whether to watch it… I even tend to avoid watching trailers as I find they spoil films too much… I will, however, occasionally take a sneaky peek at a film’s rottentomatoes.com rating before deciding…

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    Mute Kerryspirit Chris
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    Jan 15th 2012, 7:53 PM

    I hit NO but i believe YES for the opposite! Against blockbusters…. ;-) And to watch things and movies a bit different of mainstream !!!! ;-)

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