Liam Gerard Walsh OP (1933 - 2026) - an obituary

Fr Liam Gerard Walsh was born in New York on February 24, 1933.

On completing secondary school in Cork in 1950 he joined the Dominican Order, making his first profession the following year, and was ordained a priest on July 14, 1957.

Liam’s parents moved to the United States after the Civil War and returned to Cork shortly after the birth of Liam. Because Liam was born in the US he had dual citizenship.

Liam did his early studies in philosophy and theology in Tallaght and at the French Dominican house of studies, Le Saulchoir in Paris, where he was a fellow student with the late Tom McInerney.

He returned to the Dominican house of studies in Tallaght in 1958 to teach theology.

"He opened our eyes to the liturgy, lecturing us on the theology behind it instead of talking about rubrics and the number of candles that should be on the altar," a former student of his recalls. During his time teaching in Tallaght he taught and gave courses all over Ireland.

With the late Wilfred Harrington, Austin Flannery and others he was involved in translating and promoting the teachings of Vatican II.

He gave many talks and contributed to publications, explaining the documents of the Vatican Council. Indeed, on the announcement of his death a Dominican brother commented that he was teaching the theology of the Vatican Council ever before the Council began.

It was a time of hope and enthusiasm in the church and Liam conveyed that in his lecturing.

In the mid 1970s Liam was appointed socius  for the intellectual life across the entire Dominican Order. He was appointed to the post by the then Master of the Order, Vincent de Couesnongle. It meant his moving from Tallaght to the Dominican HQ at Santa Sabina in Rome.

While in the job he presided over a radical revision of the Order’s legislation on studies, particularly the role of the regent of studies.

On completion of his term of office Liam taught for a short period at the University of St Thomas in Rome, before the then Master of the Order, fellow Irish man, Damian Byrne asked him if he would move to Fribourg to teach theology, where he later became vice-rector of the University of Fribourg. 

He retired from his teaching  post and vice-rectorship on reaching the age of 70 and returned to Ireland and taught at the Dominican house of Studies at St Saviour’s in Dublin’s north inner city until he reached the noble age of 90. 

Age and declining health necessitated his moving to Sybil Hill Nursing Home in Raheny. He suffered from a debilitating muscular problem but never complained.

He was granted an STM, which is the highest academic award bestowed by the Dominican Order on one of its members.

He wrote a number of books and many articles, notably a book on the Sacraments of Initiation. 

His translation of a volume of the Blackfriars Summa Theologiae, on the Grace of Christ, is a masterpiece, a whole course of Christology is embedded in the notes to that volume, clear and precise, which is what people came to expect from him.

In the late 1960s Liam was famously fired from a diocesan liturgical commission by the Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid. 

Liam disagreed with the way the archbishop saw the work of the commission.

He was he fired or did he resign? One or the other, but it was a cause célèbre at the time.

He was in many ways a reserved man, a polite person, who would be slow to offend. 

A Dominican nun says of Liam: "He wore his erudition lightly and was warm and gracious and treated others as equals. Even as novices, who knew very little, he gave us great encouragement and was always eager to hear our thoughts and questions. He really loved to see us thinking.  That struck me very much. He wanted to teach us how to think. Not to be academics or scholars but just how to think. I looked forward to his annual visits. 

"Like Damian, Malachy, Tom Ryan, Flannan and Tom Jordan,  he always called when home. They made the Order bigger than the Irish Province in Ireland for us and also made us feel very much part of the Province. 

"One of my fondest memories of Liam is of his coming down our refectory to me, a few months after I had been ill. He shook my hand and asked me how I was and told me that he prayed for me every day. It was an unexpected and touching gesture, full of genuine care and concern. There always seemed to be a great sincerity about him probably because of his love for truth."

A fellow Dominican brother, some few years younger than he, on hearing of his death said: He was a great asset to any community where he lived. He was always there to help, give advice and do all those jobs that helped build up a spirit of camaraderie."

He was an eloquent preacher and meticulous in preaching the Word of God in a language understood by his listeners.

While teaching in Tallaght he had the nickname ‘Verbum’. It’s difficult to know how he acquired it but it may have something to do with his clear and articulate enunciation. He was also cantor in Tallaght and maybe the origins of the nickname are linked to that. Most likely it is linked to his teaching of Christology.

Liam Walsh was a gracious person. He wore his academic achievements easily; he always had a listening ear. He was a man of great honesty.

May he rest in pease

Liam's body will be lying in state in St Catherine’s chapel (entrance is on Dorset Street ) on Thursday from 2pm until 5.30pm, prior to removal to the adjoining church on Dominick Street for evening prayer.

Funeral Mass on Friday at 11am followed by burial afterwards at the Dominican plot in Glasnevin cemetery.

Why not open Bike-to-Work scheme to all tax payers?

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

I think it’s ok to announce your birthday after it has happened; it would not be good taste to announce it in advance.

I was 77 last Wednesday, April 29. In the days leading up to my birthday I always think of my parents but especially my mother. I am told my birth was complicated, that I weighed under one pound. I often mean to check the hospital records, but have not yet done so. I must do it.

By coincidence I collected my new electric bicycle on my birthday. I had ordered it a week earlier.

Twelve years ago when I bought a fold-up bicycle I was sure that would be my last bicycle to buy but once again I proved myself wrong; a common occurrence with me.

Fortunately, I was able to buy the bicycle on the Bike-to-Work scheme, which enables the purchaser to obtain tax credit on the first €1,500 on the price of the bicycle. The tax credit is based on the tax band the employee is on. The scheme only applies to PAYE workers. In shopping around for the bicycle I discovered the vast majority of bicycles bought today are bought on the BTW scheme. Two shops told me that over 90 percent of their bicycle sales are via the scheme.

It’s a great incentive to get people out on their bikes. But why not open the scheme to everyone? At present the employer pays the shop €1,500 upfront and then, usually over a period of a year, makes the relevant reductions in the employee’s salary, taking into account the employee’s tax band.

There are many people, who are not PAYE employees and it seems to me it is unfair that they are not eligible to avail of the deal. 

For example, pensioners, who are not PAYE employees are not eligible. It would be simple for the State to deduct from their pension and do it over a period longer than 12 months if necessary. It could be arranged for all tax payers.

The State is making progress in making it safer for cyclists on our roads but the progress is far too slow. 

Yes, there are a few trophy cycle paths in existence but the majority of our roads are simply not safe for cyclists. There was a time when I would tell every young person to get cycling. 

Not any longer. We are taking our lives in our hands, especially in cities and built up areas, every time we get up on our bicycles. I know; I’m cycling 72 years. Guess who have become terrors on our roads; those speeding cyclists, who think they are on cycling tracks. There are the scooters, and e-bikes that are doctored to travel faster than 25 km/h. They pass me every day cycling at speeds of 40 km/h.

And then there all those motorists, cyclists too, who do not keep the 1/1.5 metre rule.

All that said, if you are super careful I hesitatingly suggest, especially in this, the best time of the year, to get yourself a bicycle and pedal your way through the spring and summer.

I feel a tiny bit guilty using an electric bicycle. But be assured, I’m still using my conventional bicycle. 

Fr Liam G Walsh OP, RIP

Fr Liam G Walsh OP died early this morning in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital.

An obituary to follow. 

May he rest in peace. 

Merz says Russia losing 1,000 troops every day in Ukraine

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave a wide-ranging interview on the popular Caren Miosga show on ARD German television on Sunday evening.

He spoke about the recent difficulties the coalition parties have had and how matters have now improved. 

He referred to his remarks made about the US and how as a result Donald Trump announced the removal of US troops stationed in Germany. He spoke about the importance of the German US relationship and agrees with US policy that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

Merz insisted on Germany standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. He pointed to the poor economic conditions in Russia at present and that they are losing 1,000 troops every day in the Ukrainian war.

Time for United States to stop tormenting the people of Iran

Before Donald Trump was elected president of the United States he claimed he would settle the war in Ukraine in close to 48 hours. He also said it would never have happened had he been president.

Within hours of attacking Iran Trump said the war would be over in days.

Is it not time for US to allow the people of Iran to solve their own matters.

On this day, May 4, 1989 former While House aide Oliver North was convicted of three crimes and acquitted of another nine charges dealing with the Iran-Contra affair; the convictions were later overturned in appeal.

Scott Hahn calls for prayers for Trump, why not Putin too ?

A quote from US Catholic lecturer/preacher (American spelling): “Let’s pray with renewed fervor for our newly elected leaders, including President Trump. 

"Let’s also be sure to keep praying for the blessing and guidance of Our Lord and Savior (Who was not elected last night 😉). Lord Jesus, have mercy on us all."  

Friday was the anniversary of the fall of Berlin under the might of the Soviet Union.

What about praying for Vladimir Putin at Mass tomorrow, we might even include Stalin; it was on his instructions that the Red flag was flown aloft the Reich Chancellery?

Surely no more outrageous than what Scott Hahn is quoted as saying.

This from Google: "Scott Hahn, a prominent Catholic theologian and apologist, has maintained a complex relationship with the political landscape surrounding Donald Trump. 

While encouraging prayers for him as a leader, Hahn has also faced criticism and polarization within Catholic circles regarding the intersection of faith and support for Trump's presidency, with discussions often centered on Catholic social teaching and moral choices."

The Irish Times front page explains why sales are down

The Irish Times yesterday ran a front page story on the price of butter in Berlin. The title of the story was: ‘Kerrygold is 65% dearer in Kerry the in Berlin.

That it merits a place on the front page is difficult to understand. But what makes it all so nonsensical is the fact that Kerrygold butter is on a week-long special offer in Lidl stores across Germany.

It is a non-story but to have it on the front page is mind boggling.

Indeed the second lead story on the front page is about  the expectation that Kinahan will be held in Portlaoise Prison.

Really?

Is it any wonder newspapers are not selling.

They’ll be telling us next the price of jellybeans in Ulaanbaatar, that is, when they are on special offer in the Mongolian capital.

May 1, 1945 Red Army flies Soviet flag high over Berlin

On this day, May 1, 1945 German radio announced the death of Adolf Hitler.

The statement said that he had ‘fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany.’

Nothing could have been further from the truth; the coward had killed himself.

That same day the victorious Red Army flew the Soviet flag atop the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.

Mother Russia lost between 20 and 30 million defending their country from the German hordes.

The following day, May 2, 1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin.

Calling on county councils to make cycle lanes safer

The Bike-to-Work scheme is a great idea and a wonderful incentive to get people out on their bicycles.

Many bicycle shops say that over 90 per cent of their new bicycle sales are through the BTW scheme.

But is there any chance local authorities will fix our roads? The pot holes are growing and deepening by the day, especially in bicycle lanes.

It is well nigh impossible to cycle in a bicycle lane without hitting glass or descend into a giant hole.

Country Councils please make it easier for cyclists.

World is fortunate to have Robert Prevost pope in Rome

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

I lived in Rome between 1974 and 1976. It sounds a long time ago, actually it is and if the truth be told it scares me to think about it; it’s half a century ago, ouch.

I’ve been back twice on short visits during which time I visited some old haunts.

I’ve forgotten most of the events in my life during those two years, though I can still remember an old Dominican, Fr Michael Heuston. He was the brother of Sean Heuston of 1916 fame. Fr Michael was an extraordinary genius and to add to his charm he was eccentric; maybe that’s why the two of us got on so well.

And something else I can remember was a group of young Augustinian priests I had the good fortune to meet. They stood out in the midst of so many strange men inhabiting the clerical world of Rome at the time.

The Irish Augustinians have a house in Rome. Back then it was where their young men lived while studying in the pontifical universities in the city.

They were great fun, ordinary young men, who had a great sense of humour, enjoyed life and were well able to behave as normal young students do. I was shocked to see the numbers of odd people preparing for priesthood. In contrast, the Augustinians stood out; normal people, who obviously came from typical ordinary Irish families.

The moment I heard Augustinian cardinal Robert Prevost had been elected pope I breathed a sigh of relief, though it would have been great to have had fellow Dominican Timothy Radcliffe elected.

From day one I’ve been keeping a close eye on Prevost.

Back in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s Irish Dominicans were working across the world. When any of these men came home on holiday or to stay home, it was so clear to see they had a very different understanding of church. They had been impressed with what they had seen and lived. They insisted on working and living much closer with the people and learning from them too.

When I heard Robert Prevost had worked in Peru, where he was later a bishop, and then read that he had taken out Peruvian citizenship I knew the church, through the grace of God, had elected a special person as our pope. 

Prevost did not take out Peruvian citizenship so that he could skip the queues at airports; he did it as a sign of his love and solidarity with the people of Peru, especially the poor and marginalised. He is also a highly intelligent man; his primary degree is in mathematics and he’s a polyglot.

He’ll be in the job a year next month and already he has made his mark. His bye-bye to the cardinal archbishop in New York, Timothy Dolan and appointing the charismatic Ronald Hicks, who is a protege of Cardinal Blase Cupich, as his successor has been a major statement about Pope Leo’s thinking.

And we all now know what he thinks of tyrants.

In The Irish Times on Saturday, author and columnist, Mark O’Connell wrote a powerful piece on Leo.

In these times of great upset, war and division, the world is fortunate that Augustinian Robert Prevost is pope in Rome.

The haves and have nots of this world of ours

The first tickets for the Ryder Cup to take place in Ireland in 2027 went on sale on Friday. The first tranche were sold for €500 a ticket in one hour.

The price of a return rail ticket from New York to New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium during the World Cup this summer will cost $150. The same journey tomorrow costs $12.90.

FBI director Kash Patel has filed a defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic over an article accusing him of excessive drinking.

Elon Musk is worth $778.3 billion.

Approximately 733 million people around the world have not enough food to eat.

Wise words from a great man on how to live our lives

Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. 

Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

       - Rainer Maria Rilke  (1875, Prague, then in the Austro Hungarian Empire, today in Czechia - 1926, Montreux, Switzerland) Rilke wrote in German.

Chernobyl reminds us that we can never stay silent

On this day, April 26, 1986 at 01.23 a chain of events in Reactor Number Four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic triggered the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

In the weekend edition of The Irish Times Adi Roche writes an opinion piece about the disaster, arguing that it is not history but rather a warning to the world.

In 2022 invading Russian tanks drove through the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, turning it into a military corridor and churning up radioactive dust that had lain undisturbed for 40 years.

On most occasions a sense of humour is a great help

US speaker Scott Hahn is talking in Dublin in late May. The day-long conference is being organised by the Irish Dominicans.

The conference is being currently advertised.

The following blurb appears on the ad: 

'18-25 yrs, €15.00; 26-35 yrs, €25.00; 36 yrs plus, €40.00; Married Couple, €75.00. One ticket admits two spouses.'

A sense of humour goes a long way at times.

Is this somewhat ageist? 

Does the ad mean that one can bring along two spouses? 

And a more interesting question; can the spouse be of the same gender as the ticket holder? 

How will ticket holder prove identity of spouse?

It could well turn out a fun day.

US religious trends will prove no help to faith in Ireland

It’s easy to throw names at people, it’s easy to say s/he is left wing, right wing, fascist, conservative, liberal and zillions more.

In Trump’s world  socialists and communists are all the same, they are the baddies.

Isn’t it odd, on the one hand, there is a current tendency to move away from binary thinking and yet when words such as far left far right are thrown around we are back thinking in binary terms.

But that does not mean we can’t have concerns about trends and views.

We have all seen the world that Donald Trump is attempting to create in the US and further afield; it’s not a friendly loving environment.

Unfortunately Trump’s world finds echoes worldwide.

Over a number of years the American Catholic Church seems to be attracting Trump-like figures to its numbers. There is a significant number of bishops, who express unusual views of what it means to be a Catholic. 

On a positive note, Pope Francis removed Bishop Strickland. Pope Leo was not slow to replace Timothy Dolan as archbishop of New York with Ronald Hicks, who is a protege of Blase Cupich, one of the US’s most outstanding bishops.

Dolan’s canonical visit to Ireland in 2011 proved little or no help to the faith of the Irish people. And that’s being kind about it.

Unfortunately some groups within the Irish Catholic Church seem to be influenced by an American church that causes division and hankers after a past that is over.

It is a pity that the Irish episcopacy and provincials of religious congregations are remaining quiet about the upsurge of this US fundamentalist trend.

Yes, it might well have a flurry and bustle to it, there might be something catchy and attractive to it, it might well be full of drama and attract media attention but in the long run it will not serve well the Catholic Church in Ireland.

It will be interesting to see whom P0pe Leo will appoint as bishops in Ireland in the months and years ahead.

There is every reason to hope.

Difference between Ireland and Eritrea is ‘peace'

On this day, April 23, 1993 the people of  Eritrea voted overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations monitored referendum.

A 17-year old girl, who has recently arrived in Ireland from Eritrea was asked what was the difference between Ireland and her country. Without hesitation she answered in one word, and that word was ‘peace’.

Ireland has every reason to be proud for what it is doing for this young woman.

The extract below is taken from Google.

Eritrea is one of the world's least developed countries. It is a unitary one-party presidential republic and a de facto totalitarian dictatorship, in which national legislative and presidential elections have never been held.^[36][6] Isaias Afwerki has served as president since its official independence in 1993. The country's human rights record is among the worst in the world.

Little Rory set me thinking about my interest in trains

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

Rory was eight on Saturday. His grandfather Donal and I are lifelong friends. Donal sent me a video of the Lego train Rory received for his birthday. The little fellow assembled it himself. I called him to wish him a happy birthday.

He told me he got up at 6am and built the train between then and 2pm at which time he had it running on its tracks, which he also assembled.

I was reminded of the disappointment I had when the train set I was expecting never arrived. But for whatever reason, to this day I have a great interest in trains.

Since mid-November I have been a daily rail commuter. I have been greatly impressed with the service, there have been only two occasions when I was late for work and they were weather related.

I regularly chat with the locomotive driver. There is always a minute or two to chat before the train moves off and since November I have talked with many drivers. It’s a matter of going up to the cab, knocking at the window and chatting. I don’t think there has been driver, who has told me to get lost. Once or twice I realised the driver did not want to engage; no problem; I walked away.

In the past locomotive drivers came from other jobs on the railway, men working on the platform, train guards, gate keepers or permanent way staff, et al. The permanent way is the track, rails and ballast.  And drivers call the track or line ‘the road’.

Railway jobs went down from father to son. 

But all that is now changing. Today many of the younger drivers come from ‘outside’. They apply online, do a number of preliminary online tests before they are called for interview. Once successful they begin a period of rigorous training before they are appointed as drivers to a station.

Just last week the driver, with whom I was talking, told me he came to the job from outside and had no problem telling me he would never again give out about his job. He was loving it. They are coming from all walks of life and the money is attractive with a decent pension.

Another of the changes is that women are now driving our trains. Up to recent years it was an all-male profession; it was unthinkable that a woman would drive a train. Like everything else they are adding a new dimension to the job.

There are always quirky things to every job and Irish Rail is no exception. While Irish roads changed from miles to kilometres per hour in 2005, the railway is still on mph and has no intentions of changing. The next time you are on a train look out the window and spot the mile posts along the track; every quarter of a mile there is a post.  

Check the web, Irish Rail is regularly looking for drivers.

But how long will it be before we have driverless trains? This AI business is driving us all crazy.

If I had my life all over again, I think I’d have been a locomotive driver. The question is would they have employed me and then kept me? I’ll never know.

'Something about Conor McGregor intrigues me'

Mark O’Connell’s weekly opinion. piece in The Irish Times last Saturday is a most interesting read; it’s not just about Conor McGregor, it's about what’s happening in front of our eyes, all over the world right now. Make sure to read it, a pity to miss it.

I feel a little queasy admitting this, given his total abjection as a public figure – his incessant attempts to whip up anti-immigrant sentiment; his conviction for assault; above all a High Court civil trial jury’s decision that he raped Nikita Hand – but I cannot tell a lie: I am fascinated by Conor McGregor’s unique style of speaking.

There are, no doubt, readers of this column who will feel that it is harmful, or just plain wrong, to even draw attention to the man; a large part of me can’t help but agree.

And yet I find myself helplessly intrigued by his bizarre style of self-presentation and rhetoric.

Take, for instance, a clip he posted to social media last week, in the aftermath of the fuel protests, and in advance of the failed no-confidence vote against the Government. In the video, McGregor, wearing a tracksuit top partly open over a lavishly tattooed neck and chest, stands in front of a bare brick wall, behind him a framed poster of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and what looks like the sort of polyester Tricolour you’d buy in Carroll’s Irish Gifts.

He begins with praise of the fuel protesters and their blockade, delivered in a manner presumably intended to position him as, if not a leader (which, even for a man as deluded as McGregor, would be pushing it) then a sort of figurehead-avatar of the rising mood of anti-Government sentiment.

“Seeing the courage of our people standing together in unity against the failed rule of this Government has been incredible,” he barks, enunciating each word in his peculiarly staccato style. He refers to all manner of Government iniquities, real and perceived, from a failure to handle the cost of living and housing crises, to its “disastrous handling of immigration, that has overwhelmed our communities and services”.

The Government have treated ordinary people in a “shocking way” in recent days, he says; “their hand has been exposed, and it is a busted flush. And we, as the mighty Republic, hold all the aces.”

He goes on in this way for some time, seeming to become increasingly puffed up – his nostrils flared, his chest heaving – on his own pure and uncut verbiage, until he reaches his grand conclusion: “Ireland, for the future of our country, for our children, we must stand together in unity and complete this tackle. I love you with all my heart, every single one of you. God bless Ireland! Up the Republic!”

As always with McGregor, and with his fellow travellers in the online anti-immigrant right more generally, the question of audience immediately raises its head. Who, in other words, is this performance for?

It is, of course, explicitly addressed at Ireland – or rather “Ireland”, that beleaguered nation of patriots suffering stoically under the tyranny of a globalist Government, gathering its vital energies to rise up against oppression.

Transatlantic vernacular

But although McGregor presumably still has some kind of residual Irish fan base, this country – the actual Ireland as opposed to the “Ireland” he invokes in his speech – has very little time for him. (Memories of his sporting achievement have been almost entirely eclipsed by those serious legal issues mentioned above.) And this “God bless Ireland!” stuff is, I think, a pretty obvious tell, in that it is not something a normal Irish person would ever think to say, in either casual or political speech. It is a direct and clumsy translation, that is, of the transatlantic vernacular “God bless America”.

Watching that speech, I was reminded of another recent public appearance by McGregor, on Sean Hannity’s Fox News programme, in the run-up to Ireland’s presidential election last autumn.

In the interview, he repeatedly described himself as a “God-fearing patriot” in a “fight against evil”.

The interview also contained what seemed to me a pristine example of McGregor’s richly bizarre manner of expressing himself: “There is so much travesty taking place in Ireland that screams me to sleep at night.”

Talking to a friend the other day, I quoted this sentence as an example of McGregor’s unique rhetorical combination of orotundity, sententiousness and sheer boneheadedness.

She agreed with the description, but said that there didn’t seem to be anything unique about it; that, she said, was exactly how she would characterise the house rhetorical style of the far right. The more I think about it, the more accurate this feels to me. A true people terribly wronged, stabbed in the back by a cowardly political class, and surrounded on all sides by enemies and traitors: such is universal language of extreme nationalist movements everywhere and at all times.

The “God-fearing patriot” has never really been a presence in Irish culture to speak of. It is, as far as I can tell, a distinctly American trope. And this seems to me to suggest a larger truth about McGregor and the Irish online far right in general: that they are engaged in a performance of Irishness for the benefit of an American, and to an extent British, audience.

International reactionary energies

Their shtick is, in a sense, oddly reminiscent of the stage Irishry common on the stages of London and New York in the 19th century.

The irony, as always, with extreme nationalist movements is that they are every bit as internationalist as the globalists they identify as their enemies.

Steve Bannon’s recent claims about working to foment an Irish version of the Maga movement are a strong case in point. “I’m spending a tonne of time behind the scenes on the Irish situation to help form an Irish national party,” as he put it last year.

“They’re going to have an Irish Maga, and we’re going to have an Irish Trump. That’s all going to come together, no doubt. That country is right on the edge thanks to mass migration.”

McGregor himself, as a political force, is a nonentity. But it seems only a matter of time until a political figure comes to the fore with a capacity to draw on international reactionary energies while speaking directly to Irish people, in a language to which Irish people respond.

We often flatter ourselves that we are immune to the political maladies that have afflicted other European countries in recent years (and of course less recent years too), but it may be that we are just a decade behind the Italians, the Germans, the French.

Certainly the speed with which the anti-immigrant right took possession of certain aspects of the fuel protests last week was eerily reminiscent of the gilets jaunes movement, around which the French far right coalesced and mobilised almost a decade ago.

As Fintan O’Toole pointed out in these pages earlier this week, the fuel protests seem very likely to give rise to a more organised and energised far right in this country. And when that does happen, it will be because a leader has emerged who speaks the international far-right language of grievance, self-pity and defiance in a uniquely Irish register.