katiemoten's review
4.0
Rating: 4/5
This is a very readable, interesting account of Irish politics filtered through speeches made in the Irish Dáil or parliament. The speeches quoted are sometimes funny and eloquent, sometimes forward thinking, and often revelatory of the backwardness that has often characterised Ireland and its politicians, especially relating to women's and family issues.
Using the speeches made by politicians gives a bit of a different slant to the story of Ireland It also reveals quite a bit of hypocrisy on the part of certain politicians. Reading it made me dislike certain people more than I already had.
This ends just as the economic crisis is hitting, before the infamous bank bail out and implementation of austerity. It would be interesting to see what an updated book that dealt with the history of all of that would look like.
This is a very readable, interesting account of Irish politics filtered through speeches made in the Irish Dáil or parliament. The speeches quoted are sometimes funny and eloquent, sometimes forward thinking, and often revelatory of the backwardness that has often characterised Ireland and its politicians, especially relating to women's and family issues.
Using the speeches made by politicians gives a bit of a different slant to the story of Ireland It also reveals quite a bit of hypocrisy on the part of certain politicians. Reading it made me dislike certain people more than I already had.
This ends just as the economic crisis is hitting, before the infamous bank bail out and implementation of austerity. It would be interesting to see what an updated book that dealt with the history of all of that would look like.
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