Election 2007....

....and for the first time ever I was actually extremely interested in who got elected. The media had predicted the current government, Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats, were going to be hit hard by the electorate but the final results were completely unbelievable and really exciting!

Following voting on Thursday in my new constituency Dublin South, I spent a lot of Friday evening glued to the live TV coverage to see who had made the cut and who was making a dignified exit. As it turned out, it was the Progressive Democrats who got decimated, only 2 of their TDs survived and it looks like Fianna Fail and Bertie Ahern will be forming the next government. Big name losers included outgoing Minister for Justice Micheal McDowell, Ivor Calley and Tom Parlon.

Having thought long and hard about the issues I decided that I would give my vote to Alan Shatter of Fine Gael, as I thought him an able politician and he had also given me a free shopping bag in Tesco Dundrum one Saturday morning....(see how easy it is to swing a voter?!).

I heard on the radio this morning that someone had bet €45,000 that Bertie would be the next Taoiseach...I don't know what the odds were on that....but lucky punter!