Pantomime flourish fails to conceal lack of drama in the Dáil

IT BEGAN in the tone of a funeral ovation and ended with echoes of a political pantomime.

Naturally imbued with the demeanour of a small-town undertaker, Brian Cowen looked far more comfortable reading the last rights over the corpse of the boom at the start of his budget speech than receiving warm applause from the Government benches at its close.

Even by his own sombre standards, Mr Cowen’s delivery was as flat as the housing market. Then he cranked up a gear at the very end, engaging in a call and response dialogue with his side of the House in which each bullet point highlight of the budget recapped by the minister would elicit loud cheers from Government TDs in the manner of a panto crowd.