Kevin Rafter: A new book that aims to rehabilitate Brian Lenihan falls short of its target

I first met Brian Lenihan on a wet Sunday morning outside a church in Ballyfermot in 1996.

No amount of revisionism of recent political history can fully absolve Lenihan from association with, and responsibility for, the collapse of the Irish economy.

I first met Brian Lenihan on a wet Sunday morning outside a church in Ballyfermot in 1996, during the Dublin West by-election. I was a relatively new reporter with RTE. Lenihan was a first-time candidate hoping to win the seat vacated by the death of his father, Brian senior. As we recorded a short interview, the nervous candidate stopped and started his answers but, as was his nature, he was impeccably apologetic as ...