If it really were a republic, we’d be served better by our government

THIS week Bertie Ahern essentially admitted that he misled the Dáil in relation to contacts with the so-called Real IRA.

He said that it would have been better if he had told the truth.

Nobody should be surprised. Fianna Fáil has already been exposed as having lied shamelessly to the electorate in the run-up to last year's general election, but what was surprising was Enda Kenny's response to the latest deception.