Dev must be turning in his grave over shaming of his proud old party

IN a review of Brian Cowen’s first year as Taoiseach, RTÉ News mentioned he had to face an unprecedented series of crises and that none of his predecessors “ever had to deal with problems of such severity”.

That was a broad statement that simply does not stand the test of history.

Following the formal establishment of the Irish Free State, William T Cosgrave became the head of government in the midst of the Civil War. When Eamon de Valera succeeded him in 1932, it was a time of enormous political unrest throughout Europe.