Trump’s presidency is bad for humanity but pure gold for journalism

I have built up a reputation for never belittling US presidents and I am not going to make an exception for this bombast.

Strange thing is I just cannot get enough of him. Like the rubberneckers who slow up traffic by having a good gawk at car accidents, I just can’t avert my gaze.

My first destination when I fire up my phone is his Twitter account, or the Washington Post or the New York Times to find out about the latest “Trump Dump” - who he is excoriating, what he is denouncing; how he is conducting his ongoing love affair with himself.

You can see how frighteningly quick the news cycle is nowadays when freshly minted phrases describing Trump become clichés within 48 hours. Concoctions such as”bigly”, “alternative facts” and “fake news” are already passé.

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I think my favourite way of describing Trump can be found in the formula arrived at by Tony Schwartz, the journalist who co-wrote Trump’s soar away bestseller of the 1980s: The Art of the Deal. Schwartz came up with: “truthful hyperbole” to describe Trump’s constant lies. Needless to say Trump loved it.

We learned a few new things yesterday. For one, his press secretary, Sean Spicer has Irish roots. Yesterday he confirmed that Trump has extended an invitation to Taoiseach Enda Kenny to visit the White House on St Patrick's Day. Spicer said it was an issue that is "near and dear to me".

What is the shamrock ceremony going to be like? Grimace enduringly embarrassing and corny, but that will probably go down a treat with Irish Americans.

And so Trump signed an order on Wednesday to start building a border wall with Mexico which he claims Mexico will pay for eventually.

That prompted an angry reaction from Mexico. As The New York Times reported: "Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is considering canceling his meeting with President Trump in Washington next week, officials said Wednesday, responding to broad public outrage in Mexico over Mr. Trump's announcement that he will construct a wall along the southern border of the United States. "

Trump also wants to block Syrian refugees indefinitely, and temporarily halt all refugees. The Syrians particularly are undeserving as they have merely risked their lives and lost everything while fleeing a brutal civil war that has killed millions and ravaged the country.

This isn’t making America great. This is making American protectionist, defensive, suspicious and small. Tariffs, stronger border, the tearing up of agreements, denying climate change; allowing harmful oil production. That is the menu for the next four years.

He also sent out a bizarre and offensive text about Chicago, citing the murder statistics and claiming he might "have to send the Feds in".

What does it all add up to? Bad for humanity. Pure gold for journalism.

There are events that happen that lie far beyond ordinary human experience. When they happen, whole lives become defined by them. Decades later, it will still be too searing, too painful, too awful for words. The ones that come to mind in Dublin are survivors of institutional abuse, relatives and victims of the loyalist bombs in 1973 and those who were injured or who lost loved ones in the Stardust fire in 1981.

Three and a half decades later, after numerous investigations, including criminal ones, a long and very costly tribunal, and several other inquiries, the relatives and survivors still seek justice, and an objective truth that they can live with about why 48 young people died so needlessly.

Tommy Broughan, the Independent TD for Dublin Bay North has been a long-time campaigner on this issue. And so has the other Independent TD for the constituency, Finian McGrath.

Problem is that McGrath is now a Government Minister and Fine Gael had difficulties with Broughan's private members motion calling for a fresh statutory inquiry.

This was not an issue that McGrath was going to fold on, and it led to protracted wrangling within Government before a compromise was reached.

As Sarah Bardon reports, a judge-led review will now take place to see if the new evidence warrants a commission of investigation.

It has not assuaged Broughan who says it is merely “kicking the can down the road”. Richard Boyd-Barrett also alleged in the Dáil that the current Government was covering up records with new evidence. He asserted he handed a dossier to Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald on the last day of the last Dáil, yet the Government is claiming it has not had sight of the new information.

The vote on Broughan’s motion will be interesting today.