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THERE WERE upsides to the Morning Irelandinterview debacle. The story knocked Conor Lenihan’s proposed launch of an evolution-denying book off the front pages. He must have been relieved. Lecturers in media studies also got a boost, as the evolution of this story from a single-cell interview into the complex life form of an international scandal will provide material for an entire term.

What I thought was most interesting was how Fianna Fáil’s reaction made the story so much worse. I’d decided yesterday morning that I wouldn’t write about it, figuring that by 11pm on Tuesday the story had reached a natural conclusion, with the average reasonable person suffering from an outrage overdose. But Fianna Fáil made three mistakes – all of them centred on denying that the Taoiseach himself had any responsibility for the disaster.