Paul! What you are saying is 100% correct, however the British people are far more intolerant to crooked politicians than the Irish people are! When you see the likes of Michael Lowry being voted in time and time again proves my point! It seems to me that the majority of the Irish public condone corruption!!

Let’s not cod ourselves. The Irish public think the same way as the politicians – What’s in it for me!

This little piggy went to the courthouse , this litlle piggy ………………………

The lesser of two evils then Paul! Is that what you’re saying? Sad but true! It’s reached the stage when we’ve finally shown that we aren’t able to run the country ourselves!

yep, we can’t, hence the Troika

FF aren’t a political party, just a criminal front, for carpet baggers to enjoy tax payers funds. They were a political party 50 years ago, but not since.

What are ye talking about? Of course we have an alternative. If ye stop believing the crap that RTE aka Government Propaganda Mouthpiece, and our newspapers, owned by the established elite, keep spouting at us. We have Sinn Féin and ULA and many socially conscience independents. The media in this country is controlled by the establishment. These 2 blocks are the only parties willing to take them on. Of course they discredit them at every opportunity. Wake up guys! Please :)

@Reada,
T to be fair, the OP was referring to credible alternatves

So am I Jim. Look up in your dictionary what “credible” means, and if you think it applies to any branch of the FiannaGaeLabour party, may I suggest you look up “Deluded” too :P

Aherne payments corelated with periods of high political drama. Still more questions, but good work Irish Times.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0428/1224315294896.html?via=mr

We see Denis O’Brien buzzing like a rotund honey bee drawn to the nectar laden flower that’s Fine Gael.
As long as politicans hold the power of economic life & death, there are those who will pay handsomely for their benevolence.
This happens to the determent of all the other participants in an economy or society.
Sean Barrett explains this better than I can:
Regulatory Capture -

I believe that it is a position of good government that faction and favour do not afford benefits to the few which cost the many. Economists like me refer to this favour to the few as “rent seeking”. A citizen will see this manifested in Ireland through lobbying, corruption and other forms of political and economic manipulation. Ultimately, there is a concept which I have tried to articulate throughout my career – the concept of regulatory capture. This is when an organ of the state becomes faction and curries favour with the government and the individuals it is charged with the job of regulating, administering or funding. As such, that entity fails to serve the citizens and begins to work to its own aims. While it has been highly evident of late in Irish society, this problem is not isolated to our shores. In fact, Richard Posner of the University of Chicago and the Federal District Court has articulated this very clearly in many articles and essays. It is his view that such agencies of government act to the detriment of the people. He states that if they are allowed to engage in activities to augment their size and scope and to increase their budgets and responsibilities beyond which has been articulated by the legislature, they are acting wholly beyond the will of the people and should be abolished. Regulation is required in the world as we do not have perfect information and as such, it can be an improvement to the efficient allocation of resources. I don’t stand against regulation. I stand against the abuse and empire building which has become the habit of many regulators and regulatory officials. I stand for your right to access, to support and to clear, open and transparent government. I advocate the compulsory licensing of pressure groups and lobbyists by the Oireachtas, to include documents details of representations and delegations etc. We cannot allow the parliament to be bypassed by these groups.

Vote FF. Scratch my back and i’ll scratch your and we’ll make each other’s problems go away. Let that crap to the Irish people, not the likes of Ned and Bertie etc etc etc.

File on its way to the DPP. Who says he won’t be behind bars at the end of it?

David. You have a very misplaced sense of faith in the Irish legal and justice system, over the last 90 years there is no reason to suspect it being capable or interested in applying the law fairly and without favour.

That photo isn’t current. Silly person.

What is current is that these public representatives represent themselves and their cronies.I dont live in Ireland anymore so who are you calling silly.Your the one thats voting in these scumbags

‘you’re’

Ivor the scumbag is even worse than Ned!

Agree with u Mary. But also don’t forget that even if the present incumbents are swindling their expenses it can not be proved as the details are no longer subject to FOI act as long as they agree to the unvouched system. They could be as bad but we’ll never know about it. Very convenient !!!