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The recent UK General Election on May 7 has left many political commentators, TV, radio and written pundits scratching their heads and pondering.   What will it mean for Fine Gael? – Can Enda Kenny emulate David Cameron’s triumph? What will it mean for the Labour Party? – will the Liberal Democrats demise as the smaller Party in the UK mean an equal fate awaits Joan Burton and her Labour Party?

The recent UK General Election on May 7 has left many political commentators, TV, radio and written pundits scratching their heads and pondering. What will it mean for Fine Gael? – Can Enda Kenny emulate David Cameron’s triumph? What will it mean for the Labour Party? – will the Liberal Democrats demise as the smaller Party in the UK mean an equal fate awaits Joan Burton and her Labour Party?

Like the man-flu that exists in the minds of men only (or does it?), it is perhaps possible to live in denial of the economic hell breaking around on all sides of us now, simply by switching off the radio and refusing to tune into news of any kind. Unfortunately, such an approach is not only unrealistic, it is flawed. Whether we like it or not, nothing can be resolved until tackled head on. While confrontation is something most of us avoid, in cases of crisis such as now, it is unavoidable. We must face facts. The so-called Irish recession is not in the past tense. We are heading not only towards a new recession, but a likely depression.

The election campaign across the water which has hogged our TV news bulletins for the past seven days turned out to be far more intriguing than any of us could have imagined. And of course, it has started to whet appetites on this side of the pond for the day when we too get the opportunity to vent our feelings and express our opinions electorally on how we think this country has been and should be governed. Britain, like ourselves is currently experiencing an economic crisis, but it has the greater population base and natural resources from which regeneration is more possible. The Irish have always had a keen interest on the personality of the occupant of 10 Downing Street, more so in the past when there was an inclination that a Labour incumbent complete with working class backing would take a greater interest in the “Ireland question.” Now that peace has broken out in Northern Ireland that factor is less pressing and so for the first time in generations, we are able to look at the British election through fresh eyes and not through the narrow prism of our own terrible issues.

The live TV leadership debates in Britain have captured the public imagination, catapulted Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg into the spotlight, and are influencing the course of the general election.