Role of Sinn Féin in policing their own communities needs addressing

IN A media-obsessing today about a government reshuffle, it is worth remembering that policy not personality matters most. There are exceptions. Some personalities are so strong that for good or bad they become the policy issue.

Alan Shatter is a case in point; a brilliant, angular man who didn’t realise in time, and maybe still doesn’t, that being right is not enough. Whether he was, of course, is questionable. The younger Michael Noonan, feared in combat, never acquired affection until, at least in public, the honey of drollness replaced the vinegar of acerbity. Des O’Malley, whom I admire politically, was famously cranky but he left catch-all politics to lead a niche, wherein he was iconic.

Pat Rabbitte’s acidity never moderated and seldom succeeded in drawing more than applause.