Thin speech smacks of whitewash

TO say the Taoiseach revealed little that was substantially new about the Ray Burke affair when he addressed the Dáil yesterday would be an understatement.

Anybody who hoped Mr Ahern would throw fresh light on his highly controversial decision to appoint the disgraced ex-minister to Cabinet in 1997 will be disappointed.

Broadly speaking, the content of his prepared statement on the Flood report was already in the public domain. Regrettably, questions raised by the opposition about the circumstances surrounding the appointment were consigned to the bin by Mr Ahern on the pretext that they had nothing to do with the report.