Our obsession with the misfortunes on our doorstep have distracted us from the agonies being piled on peoples of other countries by our European and North American allies, writes Vincent Browne.

Denis O'Brien was on a beach in Mayo when he heard of the findings of the Moriarty Tribunal. Michael Lowry was near a beach in the south of Spain when he heard of the findings, writes Vincent Browne.

Lowry decided to stay away for a day to get his thoughts together.

Fine Gael acted with gross impropriety in accepting a donation from Esat and then attempting to conceal it, writes Vincent Browne.

The Moriarty tribunal report seriously compromises this Fine Gael-Labour government. Nine of its cabinet ministers were part of the government that was in situ in 1996 when it (the then government) approved the awarding of the second mobile phone licence to Esat Digifone, the company then led by Denis O'Brien.

Enda Kenny has had a charmed 11 days as Taoiseach, writes Vincent Browne.

He has appeared assured in the Dáil, impressive in his public utterances in Brussels and at home, and fortunate in the St Patrick's Day visit to the White House. Certainly, there are tough times ahead and, ideally, there will be a crisis soon on Ireland's solvency, so that the issue of the bank debt can be sorted quickly. But so far, so good.

If those with means forgo a new car and holiday and pay into State coffers, the poor could be spared and the fiscal hole dramatically reduced, writes Vincent Browne.

We still have choices on how to manage our affairs, important choices, choices that define where we are at politically.

Most of us do not know what leeway there is for the Government in the renegotiation of the EU-IMF memorandum of understanding of 28 November, 2010.

Delusional programme for government offers little hope that new incumbents can finally deliver a fair society, writes Vincent Browne.

The election of another Fine Gael-Labour government is hardly welcome for anybody wanting to see the structure of society changed radically.

The timetable for the new government will not be fixed by the new government. It is already decided by the EU and the IMF and the State has signed up to that. So there is no leeway there and the timetable is very demanding, writes Vincent Browne.

Labour lost its way before and if it goes into coalition with Fine Gael, it's likely to lose its way again, writes Vincent Browne.

If Fine Gael and Labour have problems in agreeing a programme, the problems are ones of personality and perception. There are no incompatibilities of principle or ideology.

The election outcome is quite an achievement for Enda Kenny, writes Vincent Browne.

Of course, Fine Gael was assisted generously by Fianna Fáil's self-destruction. The scale of the Fine Gael achievement now is magnified by Michael Noonan's self-destruction of 2002. Fine Gael has also been assisted ably by the infantile conceit of the 'Gilmore for Taoiseach' ruse. But even more so by the decrepitude of the Left.

But all that aside Enda's achievement is considerable.

A vote for Fine Gael is a vote for the infliction of some hundreds of billions of debt on to the Irish people, writes Vincent Browne.

If you are voting Fine Gael on Friday, you had better know what you are voting for. Fine Gael could not possibly be as incompetent as Fianna Fáil and in that respect it will be better. Neither does it have loyalties to failed policies. Not yet. The party will be new to government (only three of them will have been in cabinet previously). Several of them will be younger, but there will be very few Fine Gael women in cabinet.