Punchestown punters win in recession stakes

ANYONE seeking proof of Ireland’s record as the most indebted country in Europe should probably avoid Punchestown.

The fourth day of the country’s top national hunt festival at the Co Kildare racecourse would provide little evidence of a nation suffering financial hardship.

True, the demonstrations of excess witnessed at the height of the Celtic Tiger may have been mercifully absent but a bumper crowd nevertheless turned up with the intention of partying and spending in case such exuberance might soon go out of fashion.