Kathy Foley

I’m always fascinated by how others see us. Sometimes, when I drive down familiar streets I try to imagine what it would be like to be a foreign visitor seeing them for the first time.

So what, I wondered, is the world making of us and our election? Every media outlet imaginable is reporting on it, even the Islamic Republic News Agency. To be honest, they’re all pretty much saying the same thing: too close to call, high turnout, Celtic Tiger, blah blah blah.

There were, however, some interesting tidbits in the international coverage.

Party supporters might like to think differently but the FF and FG leaders are basically the same thing, says The Age in Australia. Using Agence France Presse copy, it describes Bertie and Enda thus: “Both are amiable, populist leaders, and are comfortable glad-handing voters”.

The Herald in Scotland lauds Bertie Ahern because he “has not unleashed war elsewhere in the world”, as it alleges Blair has done. You can accuse Bertie of all sorts but he’s no warmongerer so fair play there.

Meanwhile, Pat Rabbitte is “not any kind of political bunny”, according to another Aussie paper, the Gold Coast Bulletin. Rabbitte, rabbit, bunny. I get it, I get it, very funny. Not.

And finally, will any candidates meet the “Droop Quota”? This, according to Canada’s Globe and Mail is the number of votes required to get a seat in a constituency. No, I don’t know what they mean either.