It's no secret that Labour members of Dublin City Council are deeply divided over the millennium spike planned for O'Connell Street - and not just about its aesthetic merits. In the recent debate, the Labour leader on the council, northsider Paddy Burke, proudly described himself as a socialist but in favour of the project.
But when Dermot Lacey, Ruairi Quinn's replacement as a councillor for the Pembroke ward (Dublin 4, to you) came to speak against the spike because he didn't like it, he emphasised that he was a social democrat. "Ah, sure there's no market for socialists on the southside", a knowing Fianna Failer quipped.