Bank inquiry descends into taxing pantomime

There have been plenty of mea culpas at the banking inquiry of late. Bankers, regulators and policymakers have all arrived before the inquiry, admitted mistakes and moved on. Last week, it was the turn of Bertie Ahern, the former taoiseach who is, without question, the most influential Irish politician of the last 20 years.

Ahern admitted mistakes, said sorry, and then slapped away other criticisms that the inquiry put to him with the ...