Falling through the cracks

The referendum to reverse the Abbeylara judgment, if passed, is likely to lead to a banking inquiry. The temptation for cheap point-scoring will have to be resisted, writes Michael Clifford

HERE comes another banking inquiry. Last Tuesday, as reported in this newspaper, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore declared that if a referendum is passed on the powers of the Oireachtas to hold inquires, the first item on the agenda will be a probe of the banking collapse.

The details of the proposed referendum were published on Monday. It seeks to reverse the Supreme Court Abbeylara judgment, which brought to an end an Oireachtas inquiry into the shooting of John Carthy in 2000.