The state guarantee on Irish bank deposits, nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank and NAMA would all have been impossible without the ECB’s €100bn.

Each passing week we add €400m to the national debt to keep the show on the road. We’ll be lucky if the fiscal outcome for 2009 is limited to an appalling gaping deficit of €20bn. Political decisions alone are responsible for this madness. We can’t blame Lehman Bros, subprime lending or the credit crunch

Politicians deeply abhor and detest general elections. All recoil at the personal horror of their own uncertainty. TDs are always in a constant state of denial about the prospects of a pending contest. The profound level of private insecurity has to be felt to be believed.

If you stay around long enough in the one position in politics, you will accumulate a lot of enemies. Harney has not lacked for courage or shirked conflict. Like all warriors, eventually the scars of battle take their toll. Too many health commentators, professionals and leaders want rid of her

Apparently, we are going to start with a current market value and then add on an expectant premium to reflect future prospects. That may sound plausible, but it’s fiction. Nobody knows what future property prices will be, when they might recover and to what extent

Rumours are rampant that our largest developers are transferring properties to spouses and relatives to circumvent “personal guarantees” being invoked to seize their lucrative personal assets

COLM McCARTHY is a wily old fox. From past involvement in the late 1980s, he learned the mechanics of Government finances. Every year an annual ritual commences in early summer. Each line department submits its proposed budgetary outline for the following year. A series of bilateral meetings then takes place with dedicated officials in the Department of Finance. This arm wrestle usually involves incremental adjustment for inflation and the occasional initiative.

Unfortunately, sufficient reality has not yet prevailed on the property sector. It seems many landlords, in refusing to negotiate rents downward, would rather have their properties vacant. This denial and refusal by property-owners is one of the greatest causes of closure.

The ultimate downgrade has been dealt by deputies themselves. The psyche of your average TD is focused on the overriding key priority to get re-elected. Sitting and speaking in the Dáil chamber or attendance at Oireachtas committees represents the poorest return on investment of their time

Your commentary on our banks is terrifying. We were aware we had toxic loans of up to €90bn, but not that the crystallised losses would be €35bn net. This hit equates to 20% of our economic annual output. Your proposals to restructure the banks are profoundly significant