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THE NATION has sheepishly admitted to itself that it is much easier to just laugh at the Brits and the Yanks making utter fools of themselves rather than looking oneself in the mirror and confronting our own shortcomings head on.

The confession could have been motivated by Irish people confronting any number of recent news stories about contemporary Irish life, politics and society but regardless of the reason, the habit of pointing and laughing at other countries instead of acknowledging the mess at home remains a treasured pastime.

“Hey everybody, look at what the geebags across the water are at,” encouraged one Irish person, not fully ready to grapple with, for example’s sake; Ireland’s huge national debt, the government’s blocking of the Climate Bill or the continued callous treatment of abuse survivors seeking redress.

An increasing number of Irish people are happy to engage in the practice of failing to accept the gravity of Ireland’s problems and the part they play in them when it comes to health, housing, class, inequality, treatment of refugees, substance abuse and myriad other issues, thus relieving themselves of any sense of guilt or responsibility.

“Okay, so 4 years on from an expert group on mental health making 165 recommendations in law changes, the government has only fucking adopted 2 of them so far, and we’re basically condemning thousands to suffer needlessly but jaysus, would ye ever look at what that Trump eejit is after doing now,” shared one Irish person, knowing full well he truly wasn’t arsed enough to kick up a fuss about the Irish health service anyway.