The government have important lessons to learn from history

THE Scannal programme on the 1970 Arms Crisis on RTÉ television this week began with me proclaiming that the whole thing was the most serious crisis since the civil war. It has never been properly investigated but then no one should be surprised because the civil war was largely ignored, too.

We are currently in the midst of what is possibly the greatest crisis since independence. One finds a great many Irish people now questioning whether we are capable of governing ourselves. A recent public opinion poll found that the International Monetary Fund was the most popular choice to take over the running of our economy.

A great many, if not most, Irish people no longer believe that our politicians are capable of running this country properly. That must be the most damning indictment of any Irish government since the foundation of the state.