Such a mess of it he made but the Taoiseach finally set the date for the election.

Doubt he will be doing a video to his members to explain what he was trying to do before his hand was forced.

At last the messing is over. Or maybe it has just begun. I’ve a feeling more carnage is possible in Fianna Fáil before the campaign begins.

Brian Cowen Announces the date of the General Election from maman poulet on Vimeo.

We’re not thick, well most of us anyway. Replacing FIVE cabinet ministers from one of the worst if not the worst government in Irish history two months before an election is a farce and two fingers to democracy. You know all about throwing fingers at democracy we know with the blocking of bye-elections.

Stop playing with the public and head up to the park and hand in your own cards.

* Post title from your jokefest in the Dáil this morning which had few fooled. You are now seen as laughing at the public. Canvassing will be fun, I’m sure the electorate will have their own cathecism to throw back at the one Mary O’Rourke is proposing.

That’s tea with a small t, but it describes possible campaigning activities described at ‘hourly’ meetings which took place in several locations last weekend with independent candidates wanting to start a new political movment of ‘like minded’ independents who would act together in the Dáil like ‘a party without a whip.’

Some of these meetings were attended by people who worked on the Obama campaign – big whizz given how many people from Ireland went over to work on the campaign.

No this is not a political fiction novel.

So far the group consists of Paul Sommerville in Dublin South East, Shane Ross in Dublin South, Stephen Donnelly in Wicklow with strong pleadings being made to David McWilliams in Dun Laoghaire to join them. And they are looking for more people to run. Especially women – any woman in fact cos it’s looking slightly testosterone heavy at the moment. Not that this ‘party’ are going to spend much time talking about equality you understand.

Sommerville on Tonight with Vincent Browne this evening described that he believed there would be ‘a group of people who would bring ideas to government from within the Dáil – he added that ‘we need well informed economists inside the Dáíl.’

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