The acid test of whether the Government is serious about rooting out corruption in public life will be its willingness to prosecute and jail people for serious offences uncovered by the Flood and Moriarty tribunals, a trade union activist has said.
Announcing a trade union rally against corruption, the ATGWU convenor at Waterford Crystal, Mr Jimmy Kelly, said that there was "huge public anger which will come out if the tribunals are seen as a whitewash".
Mr David McMahon, a bricklayer jailed for defying a High Court injunction during an industrial dispute over direct labour in the construction industry last October, said: "I was dragged out of home at 5.30 in the morning for picketing, while the likes of Mr Haughey get tribunals. Where's the justice in that?"
The rally to "Jail Corrupt Politicians" begins from Parnell Square, Dublin, on Saturday at 3 p.m.