question and answers

let me save you from ever having to watch question and answers ever again with my handy template.

first off the panellists...

2 politicos, 1 government, 1 opposition. no programme is complete without the input of these gods of the irish nation. in fact they are so important that when the dail closes for a nice long summer break apparently politics stops cause the programme also goes on holidays

3 commentators. now a note on this, these tend to be members of a lobby group that get invited on when their particular hobby horse gets an airing.

if you happen to be a lobbyist you can get your hobby horse onto qanda on a slow news week by releasing a study or survey with preferably shocking finding. or so you will say, if they're not actually shocking muster some outrage and appeal to the damage it will do to (godsend to busybodies everywhere) that
usefully vague but positive word society. with statistics, something like 70% of teenagers said they know how to get heroin or that 9 out of 10 cats do not prefer whiskers, good and shocking

at least one of these commentators will undoubtedly be independent (relatively speaking in that they're not pushing a particular agenda today) these tend to do awkward things like pointing out the stupidity of your plan. just ignore them nobody will notice.

now the show goes like this......generally 3 questions are asked and ''answered''. brush up on these or better yet forget them completely, makes it easier on your eyes as theres no need to roll them in utter contempt as often.

audience member kicks it all off by asking a question..... surprise.

government minister. blah blah...we have spent 400 million euro (tap table for emphasis)...blah blah (more statistics) blah.

opposition guy. blah blah...waste...blah...when we were in government...blah blah blah.

lobbyist. blah blah... if we value our society... blah blah blah... more funding (never more money far too crass)... blah.

now repeat for all subsequent questions and shows. if you are none the wiser and have gained no insight about any of the topics, that's ok that's not what qanda is about. it's really just an avenue for propaganda, despite appearances no actual discussion took place, you just thought that's what happened what with all the talking and raised voices and emotion.

if you have actually learned something then something has gone wrong with someones spiel. or there was a really awkward panellist on.