There were plenty of big stories around this week, all of them well covered elsewhere and few, apart from the DIRT inquiry, happening in Leinster House.
One of the negative fallouts of Jim Mitchell's committee is that it has cannibalised virtually all of the resources in here, with the result that all other committees have ground to a halt, certainly as far as public hearings are concerned. It says something for Jim Mitchell that he can wield such power and has led to a certain amount of disgruntlement, but that said, if Jim's committee does the business, then it will all be seen to be worthwhile.
The committee hearings have by now set into their own routine. Public interest usually flattens out after the first few days, and, apart from those with a vested interest, this is now starting to happen. Indeed, the question increasingly being asked is whether the inquiry is merely a historical exercise or whether it is relevant to current issues. Obviously there is some way to go yet and we have still to hear from the banks and some of the former ministers. With such a long list the September deadline may not be met, but Jim Mitchell assures Drapier it will.
Drapier has no doubt that the televising of the proceedings has been a success and is a portent of things to come. The televising of the Mitchell committee, and indeed the televising of the earlier committee investigation into the fall of the Reynolds government, show very clearly why live television should be extended to the Flood and Moriarty tribunals. Each of these tribunals is about matters of major public interest and concern; each is paid for out of public funds and there is no reason why the wider public should not be admitted through television.
Vincent Browne's nightly reconstructions of tribunal hearings have done much to dramatise these proceedings, but of their nature they are edited and filtered. There is no good reason why we should not get the real thing. Meanwhile the Patten report dominates the headlines. The view in here, as Drapier heard it, is that they have done a superb job. The report is the way forward and, if supported, can be a winner for both communities. Of course there was the predictable negative reaction from all the obvious quarters, but far less in intensity than might have been expected. In passing, Drapier would like to compliment Senator Maurice Hayes, who was an active and highly influential member of the Patten Commission.
Since coming into Leinster House, Maurice Hayes has kept a fairly low profile and made few headlines yet he is one of those people who is always worth listening to and his Seanad contributions, always pithy and elegant in their precise use of language and based on a wide and rich range of personal experience, are among the best to be heard in that House. There is little enough most of us can do about the Patten recommendations. As with so much in Northern Ireland, the players and the pitch are elsewhere, but there is one area where members of the Oireachtas could give a lead. Drapier refers to the GAA and Rule 21 - the ban on RUC personnel playing Gaelic games. The GAA moves slowly and sometimes in mysterious ways, but we should not forget that among Oireachtas members are some who hold positions of great influence in the GAA - Rory Kiely for example or Jack Wall or Jimmy Deenihan. Now they have a chance to lead on an issue where not just sport and politics, but the future of the North are at stake. Drapier hopes they and others with an inside track in the GAA will not be found wanting. Sadly, Drapier has no such inside track. He will be watching rather than attending tomorrow's final.
Meanwhile to more mundane matters. Drapier has no doubt that the fuss over expenses will not go away easily. It's too good a story for that to happen and the temptation it offers some of our self-appointed media judges will not be resisted easily. Some of the hectoring and bullying which crowded the airwaves over the weekend was as predictable as it was facile, but that said, the story is here to stay.
In fairness, Drapier was struck by the reasonableness of so much of the reaction. There was general acceptance that politicians do have high expenses, must travel to all parts of their constituencies, are expected to contribute to a range of local charities, for the most part work seven-day weeks and that the cost of overnight accommodation in Dublin is not cheap. Also, we have international commitments which do involve travel, though whether all of it is necessary is another question.
That said, there was also a sense of unease about some of the inconsistencies in the figures issued - differences for example between people from the same constituencies which could not be easily explained (or in some cases could be); concerns about the range of allowances, and a feeling that one lump sum applicable to differing categories might be more appropriate.
Drapier is not sure what the answer is. The system is open to abuse, and one miscreant can bring all of us into disrepute. It puts everybody on the defensive and is not easy to explain. Drapier feels a simplified system would be in everybody's interest. The problem is, no one person or group seems to have responsibility - or wants it. In everybody's interest, Bertie, John, Ruairi and Mary should put their heads together before the system goes off the rails.
The last thing we want as we approach a new national wages understanding is a mess in our own backyard.
Which brings Drapier to his final topic this week. He feels and hopes he is wrong in his view that we are about to see the dark side of the Celtic Tiger. We have all wallowed in success stories; we have seen examples of instant riches and we have been treated to the spectacle of conspicuous consumption.
Now there is a price to be paid and unless a lot more imagination and urgency is injected into generating a realistic national agreement, then it's trouble, and big trouble ahead. Drapier does not believe the Government has its eye on this particular ball. No Minister is going up front and Peter Cassells was right to round on the anonymous epistle on restraint which emerged from the Government this week. Government by press release won't work - a lot more is needed. It's called leadership.