Slippery theory may not be enough to make mud stick to Teflon Taoiseach

To what extent have the Mahon revelations damaged Bertie Ahern’s standing as leader, asks Political Editor Harry McGee.

THOSE who work in the survival business — writers, sports people, actors and politicians — know that ultimately they are only as good as their last book, game, film or election.

Bertie Ahern is around long enough to understand, more than most, what a precarious, dangerous and unpredictable business politics is. He will be well aware of Enoch Powell’s dictum that all political careers end in failures and will have seen too many of his colleagues — Charlie Haughey, Ray Burke, Liam Lawlor, Padraig Flynn, and Denis Foley — end their careers with their reputations in tatters.