Working in the salt mines

By Fionnán Sheahan, Political Reporter

The long running debates at committees in the basement of Leinster House over the intricacies of the Finance Bill was the longest time the pair had spent arguing over the finer points of economic policy in about 30 years.

The crossing of swords between the Minister for Finance and the Labour Party finance spokesperson were a throwback to the late 60s when the pair were classmates in UCD and then the early 70s when they served their accountancy apprenticeships in PriceWaterhouseCoopers.