We are in an age of anti-politics. Such is the rage against the “establishment” politicians there is a sense that nothing they can do now can ever be enough.

State agencies and authorities have defended how they investigated whistleblower claims of tax evasion amid calls for a fresh inquiry into how they handled allegations against former politicians.

Former tánaiste Mary Harney last night denied she halted a probe into offshore tax accounts because prominent PD Des O’Malley’s name was on a list of people allegedly involved and that every opportunity had been afforded the investigation to finish its work.

One of Ireland’s most successful property developers and the man who told the Moriarty Tribunal he never gave the former taoiseach, Charles Haughey “a penny in his life, or a pound”, has passed away.

ANGLO Irish Bank was nationalised last night despite protests from the opposition that just five hours was set aside in the Dáil to debate the move.

THE Revenue Commissioners says its investigations into widespread tax evasion are nearing their end having yielded €2.42 billion.

SO our Bertie fears some lu-lu may emerge from the bushes to threaten his health and safety.

ONE-IN-FIVE tax defaulters who availed of a voluntary disclosure scheme to avoid the risk of prosecution in relation to bogus non-resident accounts, failed to reveal the full extent of their liabilities.

OFFICIAL Ireland has turned its back on basic morality and fundamental decency.

YESTERDAY’s Book of Estimates, as an indicator of what could eventually emerge from this neo-socialist Government’s Budget, must come as a great relief to the Progressive Democrats.

THE mantra ‘greed is good’ could well be the motto of AIB, Ireland’s biggest banking group.

THE scandals in the Irish banking sector are damaging the sector's international reputation, Larry Broderick, director general of the Irish Bank Officials' Association, warned yesterday.

HE was a hard-working boy, Bertie, but dull. As an apprentice he was reliable, always willing to agree with others.

THE Revenue Commissioners warned yesterday that tax dodgers’ days are numbered.

IF ever proof was needed that we are living in a banana republic it comes with the outrageous news that a 40-year old Dundalk man David Gartlan, who hasn’t worked for some time, was jailed for 10 days beside rapists and murderers because he failed to pay a 250 fine for not having a 12 dog licence.

THE massive scale of tax evasion in the country was revealed last night when it emerged that 70,000 individuals kept money in bogus non-resident accounts.

THERE will be no hiding place or amnesty schemes for tax cheats, the head of the Revenue Commissioners warned yesterday.

TO say the Taoiseach revealed little that was substantially new about the Ray Burke affair when he addressed the Dáil yesterday would be an understatement.

That folly, or in some cases an arrogance that they would never be caught, could now mean they face prosecution and possibly jail, as well as a bill for interest and penalties up to 300% of the amount outstanding.

IN a nation where golden circles flourish, Ireland's compliant taxpayers will turn a jaundiced eye on revelations that the exchequer annually loses €100m in revenue due to tax breaks for the millionaires behind Ireland's horseracing industry.

THERE'S a lot in the paper recently about Ansbacher and how our country's citizens were ripped off by a rich elite.

IT'S about time Ansbacher was put into proper perspective.

THE public's concern that consequences will follow upon the Ansbacher revelations, would be assuaged if there were a serious strengthening of Revenue Commissioners personnel to bring about results.

FINE Gael will today push for maximum recoupment of the €3.2m cost of the Ansbacher report when the Dáil meets for a special debate on the issue.

IN the wake of Ansbacher, as the probe for other secret tax scams intensifies, the public has been left with a deep sense of unease over the perceived lack of probity in the labyrinthine world of Irish finance.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern last night said the Revenue Commissioners faced "an interesting time" in the coming months pursuing tax bills arising from Ansbacher.

Some of the country's wealthiest citizens who evaded tax by lodging money in an unauthorised banking system will not escape prosecution, the Taoiseach suggested today.

A long-awaited report into the biggest financial and political scandal to hit Ireland was published today, exposing the names of 200 clients who held accounts with a ‘‘sham’’ bank.