May 6 will bring to an end the office of An Taoiseach for Bertie Ahern.
As a foreigner in Ireland I think it is a shame it has come to this. Compared to the governance I am used to in my home country of South Africa I have to say Bertie was rather good. It seems as though Bertie has helped bring about change for the better in Ireland, and not just the Republic but the whole island. Whether he was simply in the right place at the right time or through skill and hard-work has brought about these changes is no matter for now.
One aspect that I think the developed, western world does not fully appreciate is the entrenched political process that survives individuals. While the investigation into his affairs has been dragged out, all Irish should be aware that without even an official letter, Bertie is resigning. In other parts of the world men in similar positions remain in office for far worse crimes and the political process is powerless to remove them; apartheid government in South Africa, Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. It is not a free-pass for western politicians to dally in mild crimes but it is something for the western public to be thankful of.
One final thought; I am puzzled as to why Bertie thought he could hang on without the support of the people. Why not come clean? Why all these half-truths that spent the patience of the people and resulted in this? Bertie could have made a full accounting of his affairs at the beginning of this trial and laid his fate at the hands of a more forgiving public who may just have passed it off as the middling corruption of yet another politician and let him get on with his job till his term was up. Instead he squandered good-will and put himself up against a brick-wall. A shame.
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