Yates’s honesty in sharp contrast to evasions of our politicians

IVAN YATES is many things, “former politician” among the most pertinent of the descriptions, even if it is his failures in business that made the headlines this week.

The “former” prelude to politician is important because it seems to have been liberating, at least when it comes to the honest expression of his position. On Tuesday he did something that few serving politicians would ever dare: he confessed frankly and fully to his personal failings in explaining how his Celtic Bookmakers business tumbled into receivership with debts of €6 million to AIB that the business, and he and his wife Deirdre as its owners, are unable to repay.

His brutal honesty endeared him to many people who heard him and provoked many comments to my radio programme asking why current day politicians would not be as frank about their own performances in office; instead many of them blame others, or circumstances, in an effort to limit their responsibility for their own actions or inactions. They seem to believe that any concession of failure will result in punishment by the electorate.