Bertie should stay put and let Michael jump

Since you're asking, Bertie Ahern should stay put and let the PDs show their hand.

Taking money from business patrons when you're handling the nation's finances isn't the smartest thing to do but if it's not illegal he should stand his ground. On the other hand, he may find it so demeaning that he feels obliged to do the honourable thing. That, however, would presuppose the Taoiseach would put principle before politics and if that were the case he wouldn't be in his present profession.

Bertie may not be wrap the green flag round me material but he's certainly better than the alternative. A snap election will hardly help the peace process and Fianna Fáil out of power would be even more disastrous in regard to freeing northern nationalists.

But I have to admit to a certain schadenfreude at seeing McDowell turn on Fianna Fáil after they turned a blind eye when he set loose the dogs of McCarthyism against others. Sweet irony there without a doubt.