You may remember Fine Gael Senator Michelle Mulherin. She hit the headlines among Irish sporting circles in September, when she publicly complained about not being entitled to tickets to the All-Ireland.
She has now decided to steal a march on the Irish politics by being the first to welcome Donald Trump to Ireland:
Congratulations @realDonaldTrump Welcome to Ireland President elect! @FineGaelMayo @finegael @oireachtasnews #VoteTrump
— Michelle Mulherin (@MulherinFG) November 9, 2016
All credit must now go to Mallow News for this:
On the idea of entitlement, it must be remembered at this stage that Ms. Mulherin has spent her career engaging with the nature of entitlement: she once bemoaned that social welfare created a "culture of entitlement".
Ms. Mulherin was quoted in the Irish Independent last September, complaining that the GAA's policy regarding ticket allocation "is clear discrimination...in relation to members of the Oireachtas". She was speaking after GAA Director General Paraic Duffy refused her request for tickets via a letter which was seen by the Indo.
A GAA spokesperson said that the Association was "more than satisfied that it looks after public representatives in an appropriate manner when it comes to the allocation of tickets for our games".
She later gave an interview to Morning Ireland defending her stance, repeating the fact that her not being awarded tickets was "discriminating against senators in the houses of the Oireachtas". She then went through this exchange with host Rachel English.
Mulherin: I'm a very proud supporter of the Mayo team and if you're asking me if I've been at every match, I haven't but I attended some of the matches.
Wilson: How many matches would you have been at through this championship?
Mulherin: Sorry Mary, can I just go back to a point...
Wilson: Just the question Senator Mulherin, how many matches would you have attended? Were you at the semi-final?
Mulherin: I was at the semi-final.
Wilson: And before that, the quarter-finals?
Mulherin: Em... No I wasn't at the quarter-final
Wilson: The early rounds?
Mulherin: Yes
Wilson: Because...you were at the early rounds, were you?
Mulherin: Yes... I was at one of the games.
Ms. Mulherin ultimately received her tickets for the final, and it is unknown whether she got to go to the replay, too.
