Senator David Norris has described any suggestion of 'new politics' as obscene.
Speaking to Sean Moncrieff this afternoon, Senator Norris - who has been re-elected to the Seanad - said: "I think this stuff about the new politics is all tripe. We've witnessed the obscene spectacle of people and parties jousting for personal and political and party advantage over a period of six months. It's obscene.
"I'm very fond of John Halligan, but he's only about three days a minister and he said he's going to vote against the Government on the water thing. And then you have the Minister for Smoking! The Minister of Transport wrote an entire article about how he's taking a bus - oh dear, what an adventure," he added.
However, he added that he is 'completely neutral' and judges politicians based on their performances.
On the subject of his former Seanad colleague and new Children's Minister Katherine Zappone, Senator Norris said: "[She's] very hard working, and she's knowledgable in those areas, so she could well be good. I wish her well. In fact I wish all the new members of Government well".
He went on to suggest that Ireland is "steadily losing the small advances we made, through this terrible austerity".
He explained: "It grieves me to think that the Irish people are still enslaved to pay off the gambling debts of the German and French banks [...] It was a gambler's paradise this place! And the vast majority of Irish people did not take part in the frolics and partying".
He said he is not optimistic that things have gotten better, arguing that "the point is to try and struggle and make it better, and that's one of the things I'm going to do".
During the interview, Senator Norris also acknowledged being a royalist: "I think you can be a royalist and you don't have to be po-faced - and all Irish people are royalists [...] I think the British royal family are wonderful".
He also observed that the 1916 celebrations left him '100%' cold, pointing out we are still living in a country where we have "food kitchens, soup kitchens and evictions".
