London | As the Irish election results began to flow last Sunday evening, it became clear that a remarkable political upheaval was taking place: the previously unfancied and much reviled Sinn Féin was on course to take the biggest share of the vote, and earn a shot at leading the next government.

It could be weeks until the complexion of the next Irish coalition government becomes clear. But commentators quickly hailed the result as the Emerald Isle’s very own version of Brexit, or Trump – or all those other anti-establishment, anti-elite moments across the Western world, when hard-pressed battlers abruptly and decisively turn on the old order.