Lucinda Creighton: Our politicians have outsourced policy-making to expert groups

The strangely muted response from the government and the opposition to the decision by Aer Lingus to close its cabin crew base at Shannon was an example of the political system’s reluctance to do its most important job: develop policy, then implement it

Aer Lingus’s decision to permanently close its ground operation at Shannon Airport is an enormous blow to the region but political reaction to the decision was muted

Politics has always been frustrating by virtue of its short-term focus. Almost without fail, policy has, to greater or lesser degrees, been driven by news cycles, moral panics and of course the fear of impending elections.

There are some noteworthy exceptions in Irish history, such as when Donogh O’Malley took the bold and visionary step to invest in the future of generations of young Irish people by introducing free second-level education.

James Dillon stood alone ...