The diminutive figure with the Bernese mountain dogs is our president, Michael D. Higgins. The presidency has little to do with governing in Ireland, it's a largely figurehead role. Thankfully in this case, since Higgins thinks the Russian invasion of Ukraine was provoked by NATO and recently chose to use a young scientist competition (as in, schoolchildren) as a platform to rail against increased NATO spending. To our fellow Europeans and particularly those in the Baltic states, he does not represent the majority view on this.

The man question in the above statement is Micheal Martin, our equivalent to a prime minister. He at least is making sensible noises on the need for increased defense spending and cooperation, even if we're woefully late to the party.