There was a time in Ireland, not so long ago, when the pillars of any local community were the priest, the garda (policeman), the General Practitioner (GP), and the bank manager.
It's strange to think that two of these four have suffered a spectacular fall from grace in the last number of years.
Catholic priests lost all credibility not so much because of their paedophile crimes (as these were committed by a minority) but because the institution of the church protected these criminals. In so doing they failed to protect the most defenceless members of the community, children.
The failures of the banks were not directly against individual citizens, but against the whole country. Bankers study for the "bank exams". As part of this they learn about some of the key principles of banking. One of these principles, in relation to lending, is prudence. Irish bankers traded in the principle of prudence for the practice of recklessness. In so doing they jeopardised not just the money of their depositors, but the stability of the whole Irish economy.
I am happy to report that the local garda and the local GP still have the respect of the community. But two out of four ain't great.