Bertie Ahern’s achievements

A chara, – I was saddened though not surprised by the deluge of critical commentary on Bertie Ahern’s return to his former party on Saturday’s letters page (February 11th), and continued by Una Mullally, who never misses a chance to take a swipe at Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael (“Bertie Ahern’s return is par for the course for Fianna Fáil, a party that frequently rejects history”, Opinion & Analysis, February 13th). For the sake of some balance, I might remind people that as taoiseach, Bertie Ahern presided over unprecedented economic growth accompanied by significant cuts in taxes, rises in social protection payments and expansion of public services, none of which was deemed sufficient by the then Opposition, who actually argued for even more of what we now know to be excess.

Of course with hindsight it is clear that more prudence should have been exercised by all of them, but to blame the entire economic crash and all of its devastating sequelae on one person, or indeed one party, is reductive in the extreme.

Bertie Ahern’s pivotal role in bringing peace to the North means his place in Irish history is secure, though that legacy will for some time yet be tainted and even overshadowed by his evidence to the Mahon tribunal.

Unfair, unbalanced and lacking perspective though the public’s aggrievement may be, it is the reason why this most astute political operator has far more sense than to allow his name to appear on a ballot paper ever again.