It's the story of one man's fight for justice against the forces of the State, who framed members of his family for a crime they didn't commit.
He wants an apology from the Minister for Justice or, even better, McDowell's resignation. Either way, Pat Rabbitte is determined to clear the name of the rainbow coalition from any suggestion of responsibility for events in Donegal in 1996.
His campaign continued in the Dáil yesterday with a forensic comparison of McDowell's comments on the Carty report - a senior garda's investigation into the McBrearty affair, completed in 2000 - with the account given by his predecessor. McDowell was now telling the Dáil that the Government did not get the document until early 2002, Rabbitte said. But in February 2001 John O'Donoghue implied he had seen it, and that it did not stand up the allegations against the gardaí.
Either McDowell or O'Donoghue "told this House an untruth about a grave matter that goes to the cornerstone of our democracy", the angry Labour leader said. On reflection, he suggested that both were guilty. But there was no doubting which he'd rather prosecute for McBrearty. "The current Minister of Justice has the cheek to allege inside and outside this House and on radio that, somehow, those whose knees were under the cabinet table of the rainbow government were responsible," he fumed.
As the "super junior" minister in that coalition, Rabbitte had only one knee under the table. But his wrath on behalf of his former colleagues knows no bounds. If Nora Owen had conducted herself like the current Minister, "and the Taoiseach and his colleagues were this side of the House, they would hound her to resign", he said, still fuming. The implied compliment for the performance of Fianna Fáil and the PDs in opposition was entirely unintended.
O'Donoghue and Owen were not the only former justice ministers under discussion. The family of the late Seán Doherty were special guests in the House as TDs paid formal tributes to the Roscommon man who died earlier this month. A succession of speakers walked a fine line between praising the deceased's wit, good company, and exemplary work for the Public Accounts Committee, while lightly acknowledging the controversies of the more distant past.
It was convenient for everyone that he had been, in the words of Mary Harney, "born again", although the Tánaiste immediately questioned whether that was the correct term. Several speakers recalled their religious discussions with him, but Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin claimed the "unique" distinction that Doherty had never tried to convert him. "Obviously, he had given up on me," he said.
Not necessarily. It was the longest day of the year yesterday and it was also remarkable for one of Caoimhghín's shortest speeches. It may be that he didn't know the late Fianna Fáil TD well.
But at any rate, his tribute came in at a pithy five sentences, and the more religious observers in the house thought this might be Doherty's first miracle.
