McErlean’s allegations - Have we had a Ben Dunne moment?

IS it too much to hope that we’ve had a Ben Dunne moment? Is it too much to hope that former internal auditor in AIB Eugene McErlean’s allegations to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Economic and Regulatory Affairs yesterday will have the same effect as the unintended consequences Ben Dunne’s throwaway remarks about political funding had all those years ago?

It was the businessman’s boastful indiscretion that forced a reluctant government to establish the tribunals that did so much to destroy the reputations of those political and business leaders once thought untouchable.

Is it too much to hope that Mr McErlean’s startling testimony will force our government to belatedly take the kid gloves off and confront our banking system and financial regulators with the vigorous determination the allegations, shocking even today, demand.