Anglo trial aftermath - Failure, collusion, betrayal

The decision not to impose a custodial sentence in the Anglo Irish Bank corruption trial will fuel the sense of injustice, pointlessness and disenchantment that has convinced many people, far too many people, that State officialdom is incapable of, or ultimately disinterested in, standing between citizens and the social havoc out-of-control capitalism can wreak.

It will encourage disengagement and the cynicism that destroys democracies just as soft spring rain encourages grass to grow.

It will strengthen the conviction that certain categories of people never, and never will, go to jail. It will feed the sense of deep outrage and betrayal that opponents of the Government and the more established political parties will energetically exploit during the current election campaigns. And it is increasingly difficult to say that those feelings are not justified.