Riddle of the sands as money talks for Taoiseach

Money matters, not morality — that’s the new line in the Arabian sand drawn by Enda Kenny when it comes to human rights abuses.

The Taoiseach used a five-day tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates with Irish business leaders to make it clear such missions are about cash, not concern for the repressed.

Mr Kenny claims visits are the wrong “forum” in which to bring up the subjugation of Saudi women; the squalid conditions imposed on migrant workers in Qatar; or the treatment of dissidents in UAE — they can all be left to bodies like the UN to deal with.