Moriarty report - Understated regret from Taoiseach

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s expression of regret at practices within Fianna Fáil, including his signing of blank cheques for the late Charles Haughey, can at best be described as startling understatement.

What the Moriarty report revealed about the former late Taoiseach, who accepted payments equating to €45 million in today’s terms, amounted to a litany of corruption and hypocrisy that utterly debased the office he was honoured to occupy.

The tribunal diverged substantially in its opinion of Haughey from the statement made at his graveside by Mr Ahern, six months ago: “If the definition of a patriot is someone who devotes all their energy to the betterment of their country, Charles Haughey was a patriot to his fingertips.”