The fragmentation of traditional politics has been a feature of most western democracies in recent years. Across the European Union new parties of the far right and the hard left have been eating into the support of the mainstream parties that dominated the political system for so long.

Amid all this upheaval Ireland is actually a beacon of stability, with the two parties that have led the government of the State since its foundation still in office. True, they are now sharing power rather than alternating in government as they used to do, but in a world of rapid upheaval their resilience is notable.

When the writs for Dublin Central and Galway West were moved in April, few people gave either of the Government parties any chance of winning, particularly given the dismal record of successive governments in byelections.

Yet lo and behold, Fine Gael, which has been in office since 2011, defied conventional wisdom and won Galway West to take the seat vacated by Catherine Connolly. There were a number of factors involved, including the fact that Sean Kyne had previously been a TD and was widely known to the voters. However, this could well have been a serious liability if the Government was remotely as unpopular as its opponents claim.

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