Would you trust the Beeb, then? For those of you who need it spelled out fer ye--here is this from the BBC E-cycolpedia website:

Thursday, 8 November, 2001, 12:38 GMT Eejit: Northern Ireland's idiot wind

eejit • n, noun, excessively foolish fellow, stereotypical Irish insult. Plain "idiot" according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

USAGE: "The people will decide who's playing the eejit," David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionists, referring to parties and members of the Northern Ireland Assembly who had been trying to prevent his re-appointment as first minister

VERIFICATION: assembly speaker Lord Alderdice ruled "eejit" not to be "un-parliamentary" language after assembly member Billy Hutchinson's assertion: "You'll never find me hiding behind anyone, you eejit, shut up."

CITATION: Irish comedian Sean Hughes, who in Alan Parker's classic 1991 film The Commitments played Dave, an A&R man for Eejit Records; cemented term as almost being too Irish to be true.

CITATION 2: as used in three priests and a little lady comedy Father Ted, viz, Dougal: "I've been drinking like a mad eejit! " (See Internet links for audio)

CONNOTATION: comic citations confirm affectionate use of eejit as word connoting almost lovable rogue, old duffer, oaf. As such, its use between rival characters in Northern Ireland politics may be considered incongruous - firstly due to the gravity of the situation, and secondly because despite advances in peace process, actual affection between players has not yet been widely displayed. Could it be an early sign of traditional political insults - croppy boy, Provo lover - being put permanently beyond use?