Dr. Elaine Byrne:

Not yet and it is a common assumption to state that all politicians and all politics are all corrupt and negative. The book really is a positive story about how the foundation of the State was achieved between two world wars, when most democracies were failing but yet that of Ireland was sustained because in the 1920s, the Government introduced measures that deliberately gave away power. It introduced concepts ahead of its time about meritocracy, some of which I have outlined. This was not something that was particular to Cumann na nGaedheal or Fine Gael. An election poster of Éamon de Valera in 1917 in the East Clare by-election, uses the phrase to vote for a patriot, not a place-hunter. That idea of politics, held by the first-generation across all political backgrounds, was one motivated by the words the Senator has just used, namely, by this moral duty to the country.

In many respects, Ireland has a lot of positives and has very robust legislation. For me, it is immensely frustrating to see such silly mistakes being made, these shoelaces over which we continually trip, about public perception over some of the instances I have mentioned, about ringing bells, appointments to the Seanad or whatever it may be, because it generates such attention that does not reflect the legislative regime that we have. It is about leadership and culture just as much as it is about legislation. Those two things go hand in hand.