We’ve had enough cynicism and arrogance — it’s time to hit back

MY esteemed colleague Terry Prone is usually right. Her analysis and insight often beats me to the punch on a Monday morning and leaves me green with envy.

My usual reaction is "I was just about to write that and now I can't". For once, though, I have to tell Terry that she couldn't be more wrong. On Pat Kenny's radio show on Friday, she said that if Pat Rabbitte's attack on the Government and the Ceann Chomhairle "was intended to benefit Labour, it was a misjudgment because it didn't".

Now, Terry will tell me, of course, that I'm getting all touchy because she is being critical of my political boss. (And I know I can get a bit touchy betimes.) But on this occasion, what has really surprised me is the sense that I've seen a bit of political folk memory being established, and commentators as astute as Terry (and a lot of othe s) have missed it.