History that wouldn't go away - The Irish Times - Sat, Feb 05, 2011

History that wouldn't go away - The Irish Times - Sat, Feb 05, 2011: "In fact we are now paying the price for a tradition of clientelist politics that stretches back far beyond the foundation of the modern Irish state. When we think of corruption there is a tendency to assume that it began with Charles Haughey in the 1960s, and certainly the Haughey era raised the politics of cute- hoorism and cronyism to an unprecedented level. But go back as far as the Act of Union, in 1801, and we find that this crucial legislation binding Britain and Ireland together was only passed into law by the expedient of massive bribery. Kickbacks and clientelism were an essential part of the fabric of 19th-century politics."?