One by one they emerged from the darkness, no longer prisoners of the dank and hostile place where they had resided for too long. The smiles on their faces, the laughter and tears and cheers of their colleagues highlighted just how much the escape meant to them, how glorious it was now to be able to look to the future, strengthened by this incredible escape from the past. As the country's recently elected leader said: "Some people lost their faith, but some never lost it. We have not cracked".

That, I imagine, is how we'll all feel when we eject Fianna Fáil from power next year and rescue ourselves from the mineshaft of misery in which they have placed us. It won't be like Britain in 1997, when the election of Tony Blair led, literally, to dancing in the streets (the perilous state of the nation will preclude such frivolity) but there will be a feeling of great relief that we have finally rid ourselves of the mixture of corruption, criminality and incompetence that brought us so low. It will be an era-shaping election and an exciting time in our history, in which the very act of effecting change by voting will do wonders for our confidence and for the psychology of a battered people. For that reason alone, we should have the election as soon as possible, preferably before Christmas but certainly no later than March. There is no point in delaying the inevitable for much longer.

Not that you'd think that from listening to government politicians over the past week, as they came up with ever more bizarre ruses to stay in power. When Conor Lenihan bangs on about what a good idea a national government would be, or Mary White twitters (in the old-fashioned sense of the word) about the national interest, or John Gormley invites party leaders to sham talks, one question immediately arises: what part of 'get off the stage' do they not understand? A series of opinion polls has made it clear that Irish people have no confidence in their government, no desire for it to continue. Rather than serve the national interest, White and Gormley and Lenihan put only self-interest at the heart of their cynical calculations.

They have nevertheless presented the opposition parties with an interesting dilemma, one in which a delicate touch will be required if they are not to be blamed for mistakes made in the past and decisions yet to come. The problem was probably best summed up by independent TD Finian McGrath last week when he warned Fine Gael and Labour that the Gormley/Cowen stunt was an attempt to get opposition parties "into the situation where they are going to have to agree to something they mightn't necessarily normally go with".

That is the worst-case scenario for FG and Labour, that they would end up battered by constant references to the "national interest" into signing up for a four-year plan and rigid fiscal parameters that they have no control over. Any agreement that emerged from meetings of the party leaders would make it more difficult for Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore to vote against a budget based on that plan. That raises the possibility of government limping along in power for longer than necessary and increases the chances of Fine Gael and Labour having to share the blame for the pain caused. You can see why the Greens, especially, are desperate to get these talks underway.

As there is nothing for any opposition party in the Gormley/Cowen stunt, don't expect very much to happen with it. The most interesting aspect of the whole thing will be to see how Fine Gael and Labour bring the talks to a discreet end without either of them gaining a reputation as The Party Of No – too busy being negative to come up with anything constructive. This is particularly tricky for Labour, which is avoiding too many specifics until much closer to the election – a perfectly reasonable strategy (whatever you might read elsewhere) but one, during the current obsession with consensus, which could leave them looking all mouth and no trousers.

The best thing for both parties to do, therefore, having accepted that €3bn will need to be made in savings in the next budget, is to have the meeting, enjoy the tea and biscuits, and reiterate their commitment to that strategy. Then let it be known that there is more than one way to skin a cat (a phrase you won't find in any economic textbook), and that they will not sign up for any budget that wields the knife, and saves the billions, in an unnecessarily painful way.

Fine Gael and Labour don't exist to act as a mudguard for the Greens and Fianna Fáil, or to legitimise their cynical strategies, and the voters understand this. As long as both parties can avoid accusations of gratuitous negativity they should skate around this latest distraction in Irish politics and expose the Gormley/Cowen stunt for the cynical and self-interested initiative that it is.

The glamorous life of a gangster, as seen on tv

Steve Collins, whose son Roy was murdered by Limerick's McCarthy/Dundon gang, has complained that RTE's drama Love/Hate glamourises crime, and it's hard to disagree with him. "I guarantee you that there will be a lot more guys interested in going down and talking to the Dundons and trying to rebuild their gang again after seeing this kind of thing," he said last week.

Love/Hate, though an enjoyable watch, is very much gangland-lite – The Clinic with hoodies. Most of its characters are very easy on the eye, and its main gangster, played by Robert Sheehan , is far too dreamy and soulful for the business he's in. If you were young and unemployed watching this, you might conclude that being a gangster is not a bad life at all, and a hell of a good way to meet girls.

The show's writer, Stuart Carolan, asks that we not make any judgements on his work until it is all over, a reasonable request. However, first impressions last, and so far in Love/Hate, gangsterism isn't the horror story you'd think it would be.

ddoyle@tribune.ie