Colin Sheridan: Everyone gets a second chance in public life. Except here in Ireland

F Scott Fitzgerald’s proverbial ‘second act’ seems to be available to everyone who gets themselves embroiled in all manner of controversy — everyone, that is, except the Irish

Ben Dunne leaving Dublin Castle after giving evidence to the payment to politicians tribunal in 1997. The recently-deceased businessman is an exception to the rule that people in the public eye in Ireland don't generally get a second act. File picture: Billy Higgins/Irish Examiner Archive

“Resign. Marry. Return.” A cabled message from Cecil Rhodes to Charles Stuart Parnell during the Kitty O’Shea scandal

F Scott Fitzgerald is a much-quoted man. There’s the quip about having a first-rate intelligence and a few lines here and there about the demon drink, and a couple of absolute zingers about watching your life — and your wife — fall apart.