Michael O’Regan, parliamentary correspondent with the Irish Times, had some very odd things to say about the result of the (First) Lisbon Treaty Referendum (Today with Pat Kenny, Friday).
“The No vote was a rather peculiar vote…essentially, it wasn’t a vote against the detail of the Lisbon Treaty, it was a No vote of a slightly schizophrenic nature and it was also very marginal, a very, very narrow victory.”
A 53 to 47 per cent No vote is a ‘very, very narrow victory’?
Anyway, being described as ‘slightly schizophrenic’ prompted me to look up the medical meaning of the condition.
“A psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality. It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.”
Seems to me like a very accurate description of your typical Irish politician and judging from his remarks it looks like O’Regan has been infected.