‘No minister’ retains cool demeanour despite the pressure

At 1pm today, the phoney war will be over and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will take to his feet in the Dáil chamber and deliver his budget, writes Daniel McConnell.

The budget process has for some ministers been more frustrating than others, with expletives regularly used by those less-pleased Cabinet members when his name is mentioned.

Donohoe, the bobble-head collector and music fanatic, is by far the most personally polite member of the Dáil.