Labour’s best hope is to wait for voters to forgive, Fianna Fáil-style

During their long, drawn- out agony of the weekend counting of ballots, the only solace that some in Labour might have taken is that a Haughey and a Hanafin made a return to politics.

There is a long way back from the wilderness, it seems, and voters are capable of forgiving even the worst of transgressions provided their perpetrators have spent a suitable time out in the cold.

The fate of the former Fianna Fáil TDs and cabinet members who were elected to councils, and the slow but steady return of a party which was almost written off three years ago, might be the best that some in Labour can now hope for.