Dennis Deery
Upon our return to Ireland, the first newspaper I picked up, the Irish Independent, had this headline on the front page:
“US experts hired to fight the ‘dirtiest’ election ever”
Ah yes, wonderful. We had the good fortune to leave the States before the worst of the election ads hit the air, but it seems the tactics are going to follow us. From the article:
*“THE two main political parties have signed up US experts to fight the dirtiest election campaign of modern times.
Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have employed top-flight American spin doctors with vast experience of ‘negative advertising’ to win the dogfight for power. *
The emergence of ‘hired guns’ from overseas signals a new departure for Irish parties.”
This is one of those times when I’d just like to scream at the Irish people - “Don’t follow us, we screwed it up!!!!!”