Most people don't have twenty minutes to read about how the Dáil works. Most people do have a minute. So we made Dex Explains: short videos that answer one question about how Ireland is run, then get out of your way.
Today they get a home of their own. DáilDex Scroll is a vertical feed of every episode, built for your phone. Open it, swipe up, and you're watching. No account, no app to install.
One question, one minute
Nora asks something you've probably wondered. Dex answers in a few short cards, each one a single fact.
Checked before it goes up
Every card is checked against the Constitution, the Oireachtas record or the law, and the sources are on the last card.
Yours to share
Like, comment, share a link or download the video for a class or a group chat.
Takes no sides
No real politicians on screen and no opinions. Just how things work.
How it works
Swipe, watch, repeat
Scroll plays one episode at a time, full screen. Swipe up for the next one, down to go back.
On a computer, the arrow keys, J and K, and Page Up and Down move between episodes, L likes and C opens the comments. Tap once to pause. If your browser holds the sound back until you interact, tap the sound button once and it stays on.
Every episode has its own address, so the link you copy opens the one you were watching. The caption under each video says what it covers, and tapping more shows the full description.
Watch
The first five episodes
Nora asks the questions. Dex, our envelope, answers them.
- What does the President of Ireland actually do? Elected every 7 years, signs bills into law and can send one to the Supreme Court, but has no say on policy. So who decides? Your TDs.
- What is a TD, and what do they actually do? Teachta Dála, 174 of them, elected in 43 constituencies. They vote on laws, question Ministers, choose the Taoiseach and help their area.
- Japan vs Ireland: who actually runs the country? Our first episode in anime, with Nora speaking Japanese and English subtitles. The Emperor and the President, the Diet and the Oireachtas, compared.
- How does the European Parliament actually work? 720 MEPs, 27 countries, 24 languages, and 14 elected in Ireland. How an EU law gets made, and how it comes home.
- Who actually runs the Irish Government? The Taoiseach, a Cabinet of 7 to 15 ministers, the Tánaiste, Ministers of State and the Attorney General: who does what, and who they answer to.
Behind the scenes
How we make them
The animation is made with AI. The facts are not.
Before a single frame is made, we write the episode and check every line against a primary source: the Constitution, the Oireachtas record, the statute book, and for the European and Japanese episodes, the EU Treaties and Japan's own laws. If we can't confirm a fact, it doesn't go in.
The pictures and motion are generated with AI image and video models, and every episode says so on its last card, next to the sources. The words on screen, the cards, subtitles and logo, are added by us, never written by a model. The people in the episodes are made up: we never show a real politician.
Join in
Like, comment, share and download
Watching and liking need no account. Commenting needs you to sign in to your DáilDex account, so the conversation stays between real people.
- Likes. Tap the heart, or double-tap the video.
- Comments. Your first name shows next to what you write. Be kind, and no links. If three people report a comment, it's hidden.
- Share. On a phone, share opens your usual share sheet. Anywhere, you can copy a link to the exact episode.
- Download. Save any episode as an MP4, to show in class, play at a meeting or send to someone who asked what a TD actually does.
Where to find it
On the homepage, in Learn and in Dex Study
Scroll lives at daildex.com/scroll, and the latest episodes now sit alongside the rest of DáilDex.
You'll find a strip of episodes on the homepage, on the Learn page next to our guides, and in Dex Study, where a one-minute episode is a good way in before a longer guide. Every episode is also on our Videos page.
For teachers and students, the episodes pair well with the guides. Watch "What is a TD?" and then read the guide on the same question, or download an episode to open a class discussion.
Browse the Learn guides · Read the guide: What is a TD? · Open Dex Study · All our videos
This is the start of a series, and we'd like you to steer it. What should Dex explain next: how a Bill becomes law, what a Dáil question is, how a Budget is put together? Tell us, and we'll make it.