Roots of the Rip-off Republic go back to foundation of the State

SO we live in a ‘Rip-off Republic,’ as if that was news. If we replace ‘rip-off’ with other terms such as ‘political patronage’ or ‘clientelist politics,’ then it doesn’t appear so new after all.

The fact is that a culture of political patronage and its associated corruption of political and civic life were built into the very foundations of the state.

Irish governments have been dominated by two tendencies since the formation of the Provisional Government in 1922. The Treatyite government was dominated by a particular Catholic/nationalist middle class that saw itself as the natural and rightful rulers - Kevin O’Higgins & Co.