A legitimate cause for concern for both Enda Kenny and Fine Gael

Fine Gael’s failure to understand why scenes of Enda Kenny being glad handled in Denis O’Brien’s company are a legitimate cause of concern is understandable, at least in the context of the hypocrisy of that party’s attitude to the findings made against one of their own when compared to what its reaction would have been if Mr O’Brien had close links with Fianna Fáil and was pictured with Brian Cowen.

Most of Mr O’Brien’s businesses seem to operate in countries where the rule of law and regulation is at best applied with the lightest of touch. I wonder if he would have been as successful in Norway as he is in some place like Haiti.

But it’s not just the meeting at the NYE Stock Exchange, it’s also the pally chat Mr O’Brien and Mr Kenny would have had at the breakfast beforehand and the lunch afterwards and in the corridor. It’s also the fact that because Fine Gael refuses to publish proper audited accounts we don’t know how much money Dennis O’Brien has paid to that party or its elected representatives, or what policy he was able to shape in return since at least 2002.