This month, Jack Lynch turned 80. From that vantage point he must be musing about aspects of his career. Perhaps he is contemplating the fate of the man who succeeded him and the circumstances of that succession.

His thoughts must be interesting. Perhaps he is thinking that every wheel turns a full circle no matter how long it takes.

Lynch was the first leader of this State to be bounced out of office by disloyalty, indeed the first to fire a pair of ministers and see them prosecuted shortly afterwards and then acquitted.

He has lived to see the verdict on one of them, 27 years later.

This week, like many of the weeks to come, is dominated by the findings of the McCracken Tribunal. Nothing else counts for much. Nor could it in the face of such a damning indictment of the dominant Taoiseach of recent years and of a once up-and-coming young minister.

And that damning indictment does not relate just to a set of historic events. It is part of an ongoing problem for one of Charlie Haughey's leading disciples, the man he delighted in describing as "the most cunning, the most devious of them all".

Bertie is now faced with the extraordinarily difficult problem of how to handle the aftermath of McCracken. The Government has started by conceding that there must be a second tribunal and by, to date at least, ruling out very little from its remit.

Bertie is hardly in a position to resist too much and is not likely to resist the widespread demand that the sources, other than Ben Dunne, of Charlie Haughey's long-enjoyed wealth have to be disclosed.

The rather depleted ranks of Leinster House members in late August are all agog to know what that will disclose. Bets are freely being laid as to the identity of the other benefactors. In truth, their identity is less important than the fact that the extravagant lifestyle of the leader of this country for many years was supported by secret donations, laundered secretively through the Cayman Islands.

It is a feature of the McCracken report that although all the evidence used had already been given in public, it did not make the same impact until Mr Justice McCracken summed it up and drew his conclusions. His short document is a model of its kind.

There were those who a few years ago, after the publication of the Beef Tribunal report which Albert Reynolds claimed had vindicated him, thought that the tribunal system was discredited and at an end.

Nobody thinks so now and the no-nonsense approach of McCracken has helped to rehabilitate not just the political system but, equally importantly, the judicial system.

Tribunals of inquiry can, do and will work. It is a sobering thought for those who think that no sanctions exist for abuse of the system.

The shock within the system is considerable. Fine Gael was surprised to find that McCracken's denunciation of Lowry was almost as great as that of Haughey. They quickly decided that desertion of their ally was the best approach and totally disowned Lowry.

They seek to airbrush him out of their history even though one of his chief allies in North Tipperary was recently elected as a Fine Gael candidate in the Seanad election when their own official candidate, Tom Berkery, was devastated just as he had been in the Dail election.

Fianna Fail faces an even trickier problem in dealing with its former leader. The party can hardly air brush him out of its history.

Even as recently as a few weeks ago, some stalwarts were still singing his praises. Possibly there are still some in Fianna Fail who feel that Charlie's only crime was a breach of the eleventh Irish commandment.

No wonder Des O'Malley sounds rejuvenated. Perhaps he was right last month in saying that the time was at hand when George Colley's epitaph might be written.

And there are a lot of defeated Labour and Fine Gael candidates who are angrily bemoaning John Bruton's decision to hold an early June election. In Fine Gael they blame Dick Spring for forcing him into it, but the buck stops with Bruton and he must now be pondering what the result of an October or November poll might have been.

We may, of course, have an October poll but it will be for the Presidency. If John Hume is unwilling he is taking a long time to rule himself out. Discerning readers will recall Drapier's forecast of several months ago that Hume might be our next President.

The enthusiasm of the parties for a contested election is waning by the minute. Insecure deputies in the two main parties hate the thought of knocking on doors for a second time this year.

In this memorable week, Father Brendan Smyth was surreptitiously laid to rest in Kilnacrot at 3.30 in the morning in the headlights of his own hearse. With him passed some significant events, not just in criminal, social and ecclesiastical affairs, but in our political history.