Ballot capers: Hugh Linehan takes sideways look at election

A taste for democracy

Only yesterday we reported on the welcome intrusion of man’s best friend into the campaign with the launch of the Dogs Trust manifesto. It hasn’t taken long for one politician to find out that this particular constituency definitely has teeth and isn’t afraid to use them.

Fine Gael

Minister of State

Michael Ring

sustained two puncture wounds in his left leg after being ambushed by a pair of terriers while canvassing in Geesala in northwest Mayo. “One circled while the other pounced. The second one caught me unawares. He did the job and caught me just above the left ankle,” he said. He had to attend a doctor for a tetanus injection as a precaution. “The dog survived and I survived,” he joked. Undeterred, Mr Ring was back on the hustings yesterday, insisting there was no bad feeling between him and the dog owners. He mused: “Getting a nip from a dog is one of the hazards, I suppose, of every campaign trail”. The dog was not available for comment.

Thanks for the memories

Some politicians on this island are preoccupied with weightier matters than a mere general election. For example, an email arrived this week in

The Irish Times

newsroom with the tagline: “

Church of Ireland

to Commemorate Easter Rising with Evening in Christ Church Cathedral.” Some hours later an amended version popped up: “Church of Ireland to Mark Easter Rising in Christ Church Cathedral.” “The event is not a commemorative one but one which is designed to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising by exploring it historically,” ran the explanation, which must have been music to the ears of one of the invited guests, Northern Ireland First Minister

Arlene Foster

, who has previously made clear she won’t be doing any commemorating, but is happy enough to mark the centenary.

Life imitating art

This Saturday in the Savoy Cinema, the

Dublin International Film Festival

will be staging a special screening of Neil Jordan’s

Michael Collins

to commemorate (sorry, I mean mark) the film’s 20th anniversary. As festivalgoers enjoy Jordan’s spectacular recreation of the Rising and the War of Independence, thousands of Right 2 Change protesters will be participating outside in the final demo before the election. But who will end up as Right 2 Change’s de Valera and who will be its Collins? And is there any chance of gallant ally in Europe

Yanis Varoufakis

showing up this time?

Chirpy chirpy tweet tweet

As one Twitter star exits stage left, a new one is born. Now that Stephen Fry has left the microblogging service, describing it as “a stalking ground for the sanctimoniously self-righteous who love to second-guess, to leap to conclusions and be offended”, a space has opened for Ireland’s fastest-rising political tweeter, Stephen Donnelly TD, who, during Monday night’s Leaders’ Debate, gained more new followers than all the other leaders combined, according to the Social Democrats.

Hopefully its candidates are better prepared for a surge in popularity than is the party’s website as spikes in traffic during the debate caused socialdemocrats.ie to crash twice on Monday night.