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The Tipperary politician is a self-pitying cheat and a liar – yet still his career is deemed worth celebrating. Clearly, we have learned nothing, writes FINTAN O'TOOLE.

ON SATURDAY night in Thurles, 1,400 people gathered to celebrate the political career of Michael Lowry. Prominent among them were two important public figures. Ivan Yates, a former minister for agriculture and a successful businessman, is about to become a national broadcaster with Newstalk radio. Seán Kelly, a highly distinguished former president of the GAA, is a Fine Gael candidate for Ireland South in the European elections. Both are people of substance, with legitimate aspirations to influence public opinion and to help set the tone of public life in Ireland. That such men believe that there is anything worth celebrating in Michael Lowry’s political career tells us something quite simple. Nothing has been learned.