Irrepressible blogger Nat King Coleslaw from The Snack Box Diaries blog (blather. net/ snackboxdiaries) and also a contributor to popular Irish satirical blog Blogorrah (blogorrah. com) led the charge last week.

They made things easy for fellow bloggers by cutting the Taoiseach's face out of the poster and calling on others to insert his face into various iconic photos and posters, saying, "Now taketh ye the blank and doeth ye some photoshoppe hijinkeries. How could you say no to a smile like that?"

The results, needless to say, are hilarious. The Taoiseach has been transformed into The Joker next to Batman and Robin, Thomas the Tank Engine, ET, a hand puppet and the Mona Lisa, amongst others.

There were also several Star Wars-related visual gags courtesy of cartoonist and blogger Green Ink.

This is the first Irish general election where bloggers are playing a large part in the commentary, albeit in an often humorous manner. Online satire is becoming a substantial part of political points scoring for the first time with video montages lampooning the current government and other candidates.