The Great Betrayal

From penalty points to water charges, funding cuts to tax hikes, The Great Betrayal is a cutting assessment of the upheavals, egos and scraps that shaped the 31st Dáil by Ireland's most sagacious political pundit-turned-political operatorAs the curtain falls on this government's term in office, it has fallen drastically out of favour, something that is hard to believe if we cast our minds back just a few years to 2011, when Fine Gael and Labour rode a wave of populist sentiment all the way to Dáil Eireann. No Irish government has ever enjoyed a larger majority - and none has ever so comprehensively squandered its mandate. How did the Coalition fall so far so fast?Written with the unique insight of one of the most original observers of Irish politics, The Great Betrayal provides an entertaining and enlightening narrative of a government that, in the eyes of many, betrayed the hopes of the Irish electorate for a democratic revolution, almost immediately after being elected with a thumping majority.The Great Betrayal is required reading for anyone wondering how it all went wrong and where we might go from here.

For two decades, John Drennan was the most feared scribe in Leinster House. Some politicians loved him, most hated him, but all agreed that he was the wiliest, the most accurate, the most independent and the most sagacious chronicler of the Dá il soap-opera.Then, in a move that stunned the political establishment, he left Ireland's largest newspaper, The Sunday Independent, to join a struggling fledgling party called Renua. He may be a spinner now, but in his writing that independent voice and inquiring eye continues to shines through.John lives in Portlaoise with his wife and two sons.