It’s not easy to get excited about the European elections, is it? We might be political junkies in this country but that doesn’t mean we can work up that “fight night” fever about the prospect of Seán Kelly outpolling Deirdre Clune, his fellow Fine Gael MEP, in Ireland South or pondering who will replace Nessa Childers as the independent dark horse in Dublin.

Brian Crowley took the right option last month in deciding not to contest his fifth successive European election. Ill health kept him out of the European Parliament for much of the previous term and all of the current term, and his decision not to resign his seat during this term was simply wrong.

In his heyday, however, Crowley at least brought a