Quinn's memoirs from not so distant past

Straight Left, by Ruairi Quinn, Hodder Headline, €25.

The relative lack of political memoirs in Ireland is often commented on and viewed as a major gap. This is undoubtedly so, in that their absence makes it harder for historians to provide a comprehensive picture of major events and personalities.

The converse of this is that memoirs are frequently neither candid nor reflective.

How many manage to genuinely rise above self-justification and an attempt ...