Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is an old saying in Ireland that one cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and that is precisely what some people are endeavouring to do here this morning. There is a whiff of communist Russia in what is being heard this morning. As big as the banking inquiry may be, this is a much bigger issue altogether because it strikes at the foundation of democracy. Many people in Europe marvelled at why Ireland did not have more anti-social street protests over the economic collapse. When one considers what people suffered, people in Ireland are still getting up in the morning and wondering whether they will have a roof over their heads - because they cannot pay their mortgage - next week. People are still trying to raise a family, send them to school, clothe them, feed them and do the best for them on a couple of hundred euro each week. That is the reason the question was put as to why they have not reacted. The reason they did not was because they put some faith in a sundered political system. In addition, they put some faith in a flawed political system. What if they were to get the gist of what is happening here this morning, which is that Members are putting together the elements of a political show trial, the idea of which is to try to regenerate the failing fortunes of some political parties?