There have been ten occasions over the past 50 years when the Irish courts have been found by the European Court of Human Rights to have failed to vindicate a person's rights to the extent required by the convention. This represents one case every five years. Sometimes we engage in self-flagellation over such matters, but, compared to many other states, some of which would regard themselves as the cradles of democracy, and others of which bestow similar epithets upon themselves, our record is remarkably clear of breaches of the convention.