There are 166 TDs in Dail Eireann.
Shockingly, over 25% (42) of them are direct relatives of former or current TDs. According to a Drivetime report during the week nothing like this exists in any other Western democracy. Here’s some further breakdown.
A massive 28 of the 42 are Fianna Fail TDs followed by Fine Gael with 12 and 2 from Labour.
24 are sons or daughters of TDs – 15 Fianna Fail, 8 Fine Gael and 1 Labour.
There are three TDs in the Fianna Fail Kitt family as was their father before them.
Fianna Fail TD, Mary O’Rourke is the daughter of a TD and sits in the Dail with her brother Brian Lenihan and two nephews Brian and Conor.
The three most senior people in government, Brian Cowen, Mary Coughlin and Brian Lenihan all inherited their seats from their father.
And people wonder why Ireland is run like a mafia.
And, best of all, they are so numerous that they get to make up the rules as they go along in order to maintain their lucrative positions. Those of them who constitute the ‘opposition’ won’t rock the National Trough while their heads are in it.