Ellen Coyne: Yes, we should be talking about class in Irish politics – but in a smarter and more honest way

At the depth of his unpopularity, housing minister Eoghan Murphy could cope with people thinking he didn’t know enough about homelessness, but was stricken by commentary that suggested he didn’t care enough about homelessness. By his own admission, Murphy was not a good housing minister. But public anger about the homelessness crisis was aggravated by the perception that he, as minister, was too “cosseted” to muster compassion for the very people he was responsible for helping.

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