Right. Who saw it coming?

I don't think anybody saw it coming, least of all Sinn Féin, or that I put a few more candidates up.

I think that's exactly the point. If Sinn Féin had seen it coming, they'd have run more people, wouldn't they?

Certainly would have, and they'd be in a much stronger position now. Potentially, you know, Mary Lou wouldn't have to be, you know, she would know she was T-shock, you know, she wouldn't be engaging in all these various negotiations.

The narrative, the prior to this was very much they were going to lose seats.

So, I mean, you can't blame them really for putting forward lesser candidates than what they would have needed.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I think we can certainly say that.

At least there's no director of elections, you know, being hung out to dry for not thinking at it.

It was the press office he got it in the neck the last time, wasn't it?

Anyhow, look, things are never going to be quite the same again.

Here on Red Lines, we're still trying to fathom the impact of Saturday's general election in the Republic.

Lots of questions to discuss in the next 20 minutes or so with the columnist Mary Kelly, the commentator Sarah Crouton and the political correspondent of the Irish News, John Manley.

And John, I mean the tectonic plates are still shifting and they're going to keep shifting for quite some time to come, aren't they?

It looks like it.

Yeah, we find ourselves looking at all the balls are in the air.

There's several scenarios could play out.

It seems to go out with a bit of a lull today.

It seems while everybody maybe goes home, has a rest.

I'm said that things maybe won't pick up until after the 20th of February

when the doll goes through the procedure of attempting

to elect a T-shock and then we really will get down to the serious business but I don't expect

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