Government must now reconnect with the people

This year has seen the sudden retirement of a Garda commissioner, the resignation of a minister for justice and the reassignment of the Secretary General of the Department of Justice.

But it says much about the government’s year that these seismic events have been over-shadowed by even bigger controversies.

Much of the damage was self-inflicted. The continuation of the practice of appointing party hacks to state boards had been evident from the very ...