Bertie loses respect, but opposition parties are losing their way on the high moral ground

WHILE I no longer admire the Taoiseach because of the payments issue, I have lost all respect for the opposition parties.

At the start of the new Dáil term, the opposition could have tackled the Government on just about any issue you care to name: our embarrassing health service, inaction on the young male suicide epidemic, the death toll on our roads or the appalling public transport system.

Instead they preferred to take the high moral ground on an out-of-date issue that would have been better dealt with by the Mahon Tribunal.