L’affaire McCabe: Tánaiste’s reputation in tatters

Students of European political history might be familiar with the infamous l’affaire Dreyfus, otherwise known as the Dreyfus affair.

It concerned the wrongful conviction for treason of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French military officer of Jewish descent who was jailed for life for allegedly communicating french military secrets to the Germans.

Anyone who sees some parallels — sans anti-semitism — with l’affaire McCabe may wish to consider the role played by the press and public opinion in France in the scandal that rocked the Third French Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906.