Ivor Callely: A deluded sense of entitlement
The former politician had acted out of nothing more than a sense of entitlement. He wasn’t in financial difficulties at the time he crafted bogus invoices to claim Oireachtas expenses. He was not in thrall to compulsive gambling or any other addiction. All that informed his decision to breach both the law, and the trust of those who had voted for him, was a sense that he was entitled to claim the expenses. Producing bogus paperwork was a mere detail.
Judge Mary Ellen Ring, in her comprehensive ruling which took nearly a half hour to read out, said that explanations in mitigation of crimes is often forwarded. Circumstances can often force otherwise law-abiding people to resort to crime.
