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Who doesn't love to read a book by the pool on their holidays? Alamy
Leinster House book club
Mayo, Marxism and murders: What Irish politicians are reading over the summer holidays
Maybe it should come as no surprise, but some politicians just want an escape from politics.
WE’VE REACHED THAT point in August when the proverbial Sunday Scaries may be kicking in for schoolchildren, teachers, TDs and MEPs, with the end of summer just around the corner.
The break from the Dáil and European Parliament in August acts as an annual opportunity for TDs and MEPs to catch up on constituency issues, but also to reset and take a bit of downtime ahead of the new term in September.
Earlier this month, we caught up with a variety of politicians to see what books have been keeping them occupied over the recess, and as promised, we are back with part two of the responses.
Similar to the first round, there are a number of books that are proving popular with the political class this summer.
Multiple TDs and MEPs, including Labour’s Duncan Smith and Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty, told us they are reading London Falling by investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe, which explores the mysterious and sudden death of a 19-year-old man in London and his parents’ quest for answers.
Smith told us he picked up London Falling having just finished Radden Keefe’s hugely successful Say Nothing.
“Both are non-fiction but read like dramatic fiction. Hugely entertaining as well as enlightening,” the Dublin Fingal East TD said.
Another popular book with the politicians this summer is the literary crime novel All Them Dogs by Lucan-based debut novelist Djamel White.
Local TD Paul Gogarty told us he picked it up after the news that White had been long-listed for the Booker Prize earlier this summer.
As too did Labour TD Ged Nash, who said he is also working his way through two non-fiction books: Left Behind: A New Economics for Neglected Places by Paul Collier; and Dominic Sandbrook’s Who Dares Wins, which Nash said is a “brilliant account of Britain between 1979 and 1982″.
“There will also be a book on football (there always is!), yet to be decided on,” the Louth TD said.
Mayo for Sam
Speaking of football, some TDs are still soaking up the high of Mayo’s Sam Maguire win.
Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon told us he has been reading the autobiography of manager of the Mayo men’s team and two-time GAA All-Star, Andy Moran.
“After the great success of Mayo footballers, under Andy’s guidance, I’m hoping for some inspiration as to how my own Kildare could end our even longer famine for Sam Maguire,” Heydon said.
Mayo TDs Rose Conway Walsh of Sinn Féin and Fine Gael’s Keira Keogh both told us they are also reading Moran’s book.
Keogh said she is also the founder of a book club called ‘The Cocktail Chronicles’, whose members are currently reading The Casuarina Tree by W. Somerset Maugham.
Elsewhere, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín told us he is using the time to read two books: Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership in Turbulent Times and Myles Dungan’s Land is all that Matters.
“I got these two books at Christmas, and I am hoping to get them read before the Dáil returns. Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote Team of Rivals, which is, I think, one of the best history/politics books ever written. Check it out if you get a chance,” Tóibín said.
Meanwhile, Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman told us he is reading: Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Klara and the Sun; Aidan Regan’s Growth, Democracy, or Climate Action?; and Katja Hoyer’s historical book on the rise of Nazism, Weimar.
Keeping with the political books, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has been reading István Mészáros’s Beyond Capital as well as two books on data centres and artificial intelligence:
Dan McQuillan’s Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence, and Patrick Bresnihan and Patrick Brodie’s From the Bog to the Cloud: Dependency and Eco-Modernity in Ireland.
Oh, and one more book on Marxism for good measure: Steve Wright’s Storming Heaven: Class Composition and Struggle in Italian Autonomist Marxism.
Murphy’s colleague PBP-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger told us she had a couple of non-fiction books lined up to read but added:
“But to be honest, I also just want some escapism, so I’m heading to the bookshop tomorrow to buy something light. Last summer I read these two books by Ruth O’Leary and will look for something similar.”
Coppinger wasn’t alone in wanting a bit of escapism. Social Democrat TD Jen Cummins told us she has finished Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid series and has a number of other fiction books lined up for the rest of the summer.
She added: “My children told me to tell you I love audiobooks and that that isn’t reading! I disagree!”
So what do you think: Do audiobooks count as reading?
Poll Results:
Yes, obviously (47)
No, that's cheating (40)
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