THE LAST RTÉ Radio One This Week programme of the decade on Sunday encapsulated much about Irish public life. Three of its four stories dealt with the consequences of secrecy, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES December 22, 2009
 
Tommie Gorman’s searching interview with Gerry Adams unveiled allegations of sexual abuse made by his niece [...]

THE ECONOMIST magazine recently described Ireland as a “sometimes inward-looking island nation”. Have we become more insular and parochial as a country since the onset of the recession? Has economic insecurity bred introspective short-term sectional thinking? asks ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES December 15, 2009
 
For instance, the run-up to the Budget was dominated by [...]

Ireland needs to implement policies that promote participation in public life, writes ELAINE BYRNE . in The Irish Times March 17, 2009

‘IN THE darkness of despair, we saw a vision, We lit the light of hope, and it was not extinguished . . . we melted the snow of lethargy and the river of resurrection flowed from it . . . the vision became a reality, winter became summer, bondage became freedom and this we left to you as your inheritance. O generation of freedom remember us, the generation of the vision.”

Liam Mac Uistin’s poetic words are inscribed beside the Children of Lir statue at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin’s Parnell Square. The St Patrick’s Day parade will begin there today, this memorial of reflection, which symbolises the rebirth and resurrection of the Irish nation. Incidentally, Brian Cowen will present an illustrated edition of The Children of Lir fairytales to Barack Obama’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, during his visit to the White House today.

This writer believes in providence rather than coincidence. When both men stand side by side, with the obligatory shamrocks, we will have the opportunity to reflect that Cowen is just 18 months older than Obama and that a generation of young Irish now identify more with an American president of Offaly ancestry than a Taoiseach of Offaly birth.

Two-thirds of Ireland’s population, some 2.8 million Irish citizens, are younger than Cowen. What vision will my generation inherit? The deep regret and betrayal of Fionnula, Aodh, Fiachra and Conn, the Children of Lir, trapped as swans and banished from their homeland for 900 years? Is this the future that awaits us, one where we pay, through unemployment and emigration, for the mistakes of our institutions, those role models of irresponsibility that lecture my generation on responsibility?

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.