The banking scandals expose a badly flawed mindset that threatens the nation’s future in The Irish Times, February 24, 2009

IRELAND BORROWED the emperor’s clothes, made of a special cloth that became invisible to anyone who was unusually stupid. Sure enough, everybody marvelled at the intricate pattern of the expensive material.

The media praised the exquisite property of the fabric. The financial institutions were infatuated by the sumptuous textile and encouraged the emperor to weave more and more. Those from law, architecture, business, construction, and others were seduced by the detailed stitching which miraculously sutured the seamless and hemless garment together. The churches no longer had opinions on such matters and stood back.

Public life has been paralysed by the refusal to acknowledge that wrongdoing has taken place. The defence of ‘I have broken no law’ is simply not good enough in The Irish Times, February 17, 2009

EARL DEVANEY has only been to Ireland once. He was a special agent in the US secret service when an American president visited us, but he can’t remember which one. Devaney specialised in white-collar crime and later headed the secret service fraud division.

He became inspector general for the US department of the interior (DOI) in 1999. He is the chief official responsible for investigating fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement within this department.

Brian Lenihan remains an avid aficionado of the Not-Our-Fault-But defence that is currently doing the rounds, writes ELAINE BYRNE in The Irish Times, February 10, 2009

WE ARE sorry. We were wrong. These words are without quotation marks because they remain politically homeless.

Actually, according to the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern on RTÉ 1 television’s Prime Time programme last week, “no one really is responsible. It just happened that we hit a wall. There are international factors”.

The Minister for Finance was slightly less obstinate on Sunday’s Week in Politics programme on RTÉ 1 television regarding the domestic reasons for the Irish economic collapse. Nonetheless, Brian Lenihan remains an avid aficionado of the Not-Our-Fault-But defence that is currently doing the rounds. “I accept that we went too far with the construction industry. But . . . I’m saying that Government played its part in this. But . . . Yes I accept that Government contributed towards it. But . . .”

But. But. But.

Perhaps Irish politics has something to learn from the GAA ‘State of the Nation’ model, writes Elaine Byrne in The Irish Times, February 3, 2009

‘THIS IS an extraordinary country . . . It is that quality of the Irish, the remarkable combination of hope, confidence and imagination that is needed more than ever today.”

John F Kennedy’s June 1963 speech to the Oireachtas was an inspired choice by Croke Park on Saturday night. The GAA marked their 125th anniversary with a 20-minute fireworks and musical extravaganza. JFK’s words were accompanied by a pyrotechnic presentation of the 32 county crests screened on to Croke Park’s hallowed turf.