Fine Gael abandons patriotic politics

Not many people noticed it, but it was a major political event in a week where what didn't happen in the North made more news than what did happen in the Republic. That event was Fine Gael's final shaking off of the legacy of Garret FitzGerald.

FitzGerald was the most successful political leader Fine Gael ever had. Under his leadership, Fine Gael almost overtook Fianna Fáil. He offered an urbane, intellectual and fundamentally ...