FOUR ELECTION CANDIDATES were put through their paces on a local radio station on Friday as they each handled a snake live on air.
KCLR 96FM gave Carlow-Kilkenny hopefuls a grilling on its I’m A Politician, Get Me Out of Here special, all while they held and played Twister with a six-foot snake from the National Reptile Zoo.
People Before Profit’s Adrienne Wallace was the first up, describing its weight as like a heavy “chunk of beef”.
“This is what it’s like to be in government with Fine Gael,” she said.
KCLR presenter John Masterson was on hand with reassuring advice: “Don’t squeeze him. That’s what [I'm A Celebrity contestant] Shane Warne did and he got bitten.”
“When they get hungry, they strangle their prey,” he added after Wallace complained about the snake tightening around her neck.
Fianna Fáil candidate Jennifer Murnane O’Connor was particularly nervous as the reptile was lowered onto her knees.
“He likes to wrap himself around necks,” its handler told her.
Distracted by movement on her lap, Murnane O’Connor apologised to listeners: “I’m a bit nervous.”
“This morning, I went out on the door,” she continued before stopping again.
Sorry, the snake moved.
Sinn Féin’s Kathleen Funchion and Conor MacLiam of the Anti-Austerity Alliance also signed up to the challenge, with the other candidates absenting themselves.
The candidates were then put through a bout of exercise, performing squats while local fitness trainer Paulie Ward waved pizza in their faces.
Listen to the full, bizarre show here.
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