I am but a humble County Councillor but were I a member of a political party where the leader laid down the rules but did not apply them to himself I would show that party a clean pair of heels.

Hypocrisy Jesus said was the worst sin, hypocrisy i.e. how Bertie set internal standards in FF codes etc; fired Ivor Callely; condemned in forensic detail Michael Lowry; set up the Tribunals on Payments to Politicians. He at no stage credibly attempted to return the money until found out, and then only to get himself out of the compromised position he was in, and continues to live in Hypocrisy Central.

At certain points in its history a Republic is called upon to renew its commitment to certain principles in this case the establishment that the leaders are above reproach and are seen to be above reproach. That principle has in part been acknowledged by an apology of the Taoiseach but it is clear that he is not going to follow through with the logical outcome of that acknowledgement. He wishes to continue living in Hypocrasy Central. I refer to Des O’Malley's "standing by the Republic Speech" in 1985 as being one of those moments.
An analogy would be that if every now and again our most cherished and valuable possessions are not renewed and cleaned they become duller and less valued and this devaluation seeps down to every decision in government and even to the lowest level of local government like a putrefying virus which leaves a lasting damaging effect in our collective unconscious and our regard for our political system. I have no interest in "taking out" any particular individual or minimising their good works in government but what I am FOR is for the renewing of our standards and I challenge the Irish people to answer the question do we want these standards? We cannot have it both ways. There are a lot of good people in FF but it gives me no delight to say that FF have been damaged and unless the standards and principals of this republic are upheld we all (including FF) will live with the consequences, the full consequences of which may not be visible for a long time but come they will.