Mick Wallace may have been declared a bankrupt but as a politician he has led a charmed life. The Wexford TD is a mass of contradictions. A developer whose business went bust, he was first elected in 2011 on a wave of popular indignation about the financial collapse and the EU/IMF bailout.
A scourge of former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, Wallace has benefited from the latter's reform of the bankruptcy law and the repeal of the obligation on a bankrupt TD to forfeit his seat.
Known for his unconventional dress sense and his left wing opinions Wallace ended up owing banks tens of millions after the collapse of his construction business. More pertinently he left the taxpayer short €1.4 million in underdeclared VAT and admitted to filing false returns. He was also fined €7,000 over delays in paying workers’ pension contributions.
His use of his Dáil expenses has also raised eyebrows, particularly using an allowance to pay his son for research.
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On the other hand he played an important role in highlighting penalty points abuse by gardaí and has been a scourge of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). He has espoused various socialist causes at home and abroad, yet was the owner of an Italian vineyard which he sold to his brother as his creditors started to pursue him.
Through it all he has maintained a high public profile and a level of popularity that saw him re-elected to the Dáil for Wexford last February, despite the laudable fact that he made a point of not engaging in the kind of constituency work which is deemed essential for success in Irish politics, particularly in rural constituencies.
There is an issue, though, about the way he has relentlessly pursued Nama over its dealings with the US company, Cerberus, given the company’s role in his own financial affairs which ultimately led to his bankruptcy. Mr Wallace may have an understandable personal grudge against Cerberus but his use of Dáil privilege to pursue his campaign is questionable.