DURING his resignation speech last Tuesday afternoon, John O'Donoghue claimed that the affair that had brought about his downfall had served to "create an ugly, grasping, black caricature of the man I am".

It is a matter of opinion whether or not the media created an ugly caricature of the former Ceann Comhairle, but has the expenses scandal created an ugly caricature of politics in the public mind?

The Sunday Tribune spoke to a number of observers to get their views on the issue.

Jim Glennon, Former Fianna Fáil TD and Chairman of Edelman Ireland

"Politics has been further damaged by this scandal and the manner in which it has been handled. It was allowed drag on far too long and the message wasn't clear enough in the Ceann Comhairle's defence. I don't understand the reluctance of any politician to use the word 'sorry' and I think this goes to the heart of the lack of trust in politics.

"There is a lack of respect among the electorate as a whole so this scandal has only fuelled further antagonism towards politicians. I thought that John O'Donoghue's speech was very selective. If it was an attempt to explain his position, which I presume it was, it was a very poor attempt.

"People have lost respect for the institutions of the state and that has been the case for years. It was not an issue during the Celtic Tiger, but now that the state is asking its citizens to take a significant reduction in their standard of living, the cumulative lack of respect that has been building up has emerged for the first time.

"When the tide goes out and you look at a river, you may see shopping trolleys and all sorts of dirt and that is what is happening in politics now as the economic tide has gone out.

"Nothing can be done immediately to repair the damage but the first real move came on Thursday night when the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan indicated that senior politicians were about to take significant pay cuts in the forthcoming budget."

Dr Aodh O'Sullivan, Department of Government in UCC and co-author of 'All Politics Is Local'

"The scandal certainly has not enhanced the reputation of politics and politicians. The image of Charles Haughey urging the citizens of Ireland to collectively tighten their belts while he engaged in a high-spending lifestyle is still fresh in the minds of many people and the O'Donoghue saga is a continuation of this mentality. The surprising thing is that the Irish political system does not seem to have learned any lessons from the UK where many MPs were found to have exploited the system of parliamentary allowances to subsidise their lifestyles and multiple homes.

"I imagine that people have less respect for the institutions of the state after this scandal and it is a worrying development. Stephen Collins [political editor of The Irish Times] recently referred to people developing a corrosive cynicism about politics and, of course, this attitude will make it difficult for everyone to pull together to try and get us out of our current economic difficulties. The public are angry and the credibility of the political system is being destroyed bit by bit; it is a classical case of death by a thousand cuts. The big fear is that the O'Donoghue situation is the tip of the iceberg and I imagine government departments are being flooded with Freedom of Information requests.

"The O'Donoghue scandal may be a critical juncture which led to change. While mindsets and culture take time to change, the rules of the game can be altered now, beginning with a system of vouched expenses."

Terry Prone, Director of the Communications Clinic

"Where did the notion come from that at some point in history, recent or medieval, politics was regarded by the rest of us as a hotbed of virtue and principle? People like the politicians they know. They regard as muck the politicians they don't know, with the exception of a few good TV performers. The temperature of cynicism and dislike rises when people's own lives are impacted.

"Right now, people have lost jobs, lost value in their homes, lost pensions and are facing into a budget that will further impoverish them. In that context, Ken Foxe's findings were going to act as petrol thrown on a rather lively fire.

"Over the past decade, citizens have been distanced by bureaucracy and regulation from the reality of the institutions that are supposed to serve them. That may be exacerbated by the revelations.

"The relationship between the body politic and the institutions of the state cannot be repaired by hiring PR people. When institutions or companies do their work really well, it's just amazing what a good image they can develop – without ads or media 'ra-ra'. Doing good and not seeking credit for it is a great place to start."