Eoghan Harris (Independent)

There are very few moments of this nature in Irish history. It is very easy to join a consensus, add to the media firestorm and support those who wish to stone Cathal Ó Searcaigh. The founder of Christianity would not have been found in such a mob. Media mobs are easy to assemble. They have been assembled for all sorts of people in Irish society, from the Taoiseach down. It is difficult to keep one's head and separate out the issues in the middle of a media firestorm. I reckon the little decision taken yesterday was as important, in its own way, as the meeting of Lemass and O'Neill, at one level.