An unusual interpretation of ‘living simply’

When he admitted to having under-declared tax this week, Mick Wallace tried to present himself as an ordinary man.

“I lived simply. I never went crazy or flew around the place in a helicopter.”

His definition of living simply, however, will be very different to that of those on the average industrial wage, out of work, or struggling to get by on welfare. This is a man who, when his construction business was booming, bought his own vineyard in Italy to supply the café bars and restaurants he was opening in Ireland. He had apartments in France and Italy. He travelled regularly to the latter to watch football matches.