Populism reigns as Bertie takes cover

Populism did the job for Bertie, and all parties have cottoned onto it, writes Michael Clifford

CULPRIT Number One showed up in the stocks last Thursday. Bertie Ahern is regarded by many as the captain who drove the State ship onto the rocks. And then, as the crew emerged dazed from the bridge, and those in steerage faced the prospect of drowning, the great leader could be seen rowing furiously towards the security of a big, fat pension.

Thursday was the first occasion since he left office that Ahern had to account for himself in a forum that wasn’t cushioned with fluff. Anybody expecting that he would be filleted by the young political guns of post-Apocalypse Ireland were sorely disappointed. The verbal gymnastics that had long been his hallmark served him well in this postscript to his political career.