The Irish are not that different from the Brits after all when it comes to managing virtue signalling vs economic reality

Minister Helen McEntee's announcement that she was rushing 100 Garda officers for ‘frontline enforcement work’ on the border was a miscalculation and embarrassing.

Gail Walker

Picture the scene — two Gardai in a small boat, with two pairs of binoculars and two lunchboxes with their pieces, peering out over the dark waves. One saying to the other: “The border must be around here somewhere.”

The strange and only partly funny scenario sprang to mind amid the absurd situation that arose when Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee announced she was rushing 100 Garda officers for ‘frontline enforcement work’ to prevent migrants forsaking the grey skies of Ulster for the blue skies of the Irish Republic.