The choreography of an Irish scandal is well established. The draw-the-sting, smoke-and-daggers shuffle-and-dodge is predictable and all too well rehearsed. The lineage is pretty constant and unfortunately equally predictable.

It is obvious that a great many people in this country do not feel constrained by the idea of moral, honest or even decent behaviour.

Even before a tap has even been turned on, the shambles engulfing Irish Water’s splurge of €85m on consultancy fees has turned into a major PR disaster for the new semi-state.

With hundreds of thousands of people out of work across the country, it beggars belief that a pay row between workers and management at the Kerry-based German firm Liebherr has festered so long that the company’s future is now in the balance.

The 31st Dáil resumes today and in a very short time — two months — it will mark the third anniversary of the establishment of Enda Kenny’s coalition.

Yesterday’s court revelation that there are delays of up to four years in investigating cases around possession of child pornography is yet another startling indication of dysfunction in our public life.

Fifty years ago this week Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’’ entered the consciousness of open-minded, liberal, socially conscious people and has remained active there ever since.

A society that cannot look itself in the mirror, warts and all, will never be as successful, as supportive or as humane as it might wish to be. This principle stands even if it is misused to intrude and indulge in voyeurism of the most exploitative kind.

The election of Pope Francis was seen as a moment of rejuvenation for the Catholic Church. His commitment to the justice central to Christianity provoked a new optimism. His disdain for pomp added to the feeling that a page had been turned.

The Ombudsman and the Freedom of Information Act are recent additions to the armoury available to citizens aggrieved by State services or aiming to establish facts around an organisation’s spending or processes.