FF may be out of political purgatory, but we’re still paying for its sins

PRODIGAL party Fianna Fáil is no longer the pariah of Irish politics, but has it really learned anything from its time in political purgatory?

This time last year, following the publication of the damning Mahon Report, which found Bertie Ahern had given untrue evidence about the source of £215,000 lodged in his byzantine accounts, its political obituary was being written.

The epitaphs were premature. By January, the party had topped two successive opinion polls, becoming the most popular party in the state. Its recent performance in the Meath East by-election, in which Thomas Byrne secured 34% of the vote, has confirmed, beyond any doubt, that the party is back in contention at the top.