Bankrupt O’Nama instills little faith

IT was a tale of two recessions: In the 1980’s a gruff Irishman gave the world Live Aid, 20 years later a bluff one saddled the nation with Spiv Aid.

Will it work? Who knows? Certainly not Brian Lenihan. For all his treacly, slick assurances, this is still the Finance Minister who didn’t understand the parking-at-work tax after he announced it so let’s not fool ourselves he gets where this €54bn gamble is going to end up.

One thing was clear though – the clapping from the Fianna Fáil benches as Mr Lenihan sat down was not loud enough to drown out the sound of champagne corks popping across the rezoned greed belt as the boom-time rats gorged on the massive transfer of funds from the little people’s pay levies to the reckless speculators lifelines.