Bertie’s selective approach to landmark events

ANYONE who suspected that the 1916 commemorations were a Fianna Fáil electioneering ploy had their suspicions confirmed by the brazen comments made by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the opening of the 1916 exhibition at the National Museum last week.

Mr Ahern listed what he saw as the “four cornerstones of independent Ireland” - the 1916 Proclamation, the 1937 Constitution, the Treaty of Rome in 1972, and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

He added that “nobody should seek to own Irish history”, which he described as a “shared legacy”.