The people of the Republic have spoken, even if everything they said isn't entirely clear. They certainly threw out of power the Dáil coalition they decided were rascals, although the lead party in that coalition may scrabble for some time yet to sound in charge. For a state where economic `recovery' has been uneven and unfair, lack of clarity about the shape of the next government, maybe for weeks, is surely about right. The result should not have been a surprise. It still shook the air. Anyone who forgets how conservative is the society with which we share the island [...]