We may have had poor leadership before, but we’ve never had worse

IAN PAISLEY Jnr had to resign this week as a junior minister in the Northern Executive headed by his father.

We had the sons of two famous political fathers in the news down here and the contrast in the treatment could hardly have been starker.

The political career of Liam Cosgrave — son of the Taoiseach of the same name and grandson of WT Cosgrave, the first president of the executive council of the Irish Free State — ended in disgrace. He was effectively disbarred and sentenced to 75 hours of community service in lieu of six months in jail for not disclosing to the Standards in Public Service Commission a payment of £2,500.