FG failing to provide opposition as PDs struggle to prove their worth

WITH inflation growing at twice the current European average, we are clearly in troubled waters, and the ship of State is taking on water.

There is no doubt that those in charge have to cut back on spending to get back on an even keel, but elements of the crew are showing signs of mutiny, because their officers are not only seasick but also politically incontinent. They are making an unholy mess.

"We need a strong government to take unpopular decisions in the short-term and to place the long-term overall good before short-term expediency," Charlie McCreevy explained in April 1981 as he denounced the infamous Fianna Fáil election manifesto of 1977. "If political parties continue to disgrace themselves, then democracy itself is at risk."