Where sting of the backlash is most likely to hurt Government

“THIS is coming from people who don’t understand poverty, who haven’t experienced poverty, who don’t know what it’s like to be on €200 a week, who don’t know what it is like on a Wednesday evening and no money left in the jar on the sideboard to buy the groceries on Thursday and the payment doesn’t come in until Friday.”

Eamon Gilmore wasn’t offering any real answers on how Labour would bridge the huge gap in public finances, but he was doing what his party does best by tapping into what is likely to be the public reaction to the Bord Snip report, which appears to have taken the knife to the areas affecting the poorest and weakest.

One economist, not involved in writing the report, suggested on RTÉ Radio yesterday that the public would thank the Government if they implemented the proposals necessary and, in so doing, helped the country emerge from the economic crisis.