‘If there was going to be a backbench rebellion, it would come from the Labour side’

WHEN Brendan Howlin finished his speech in the Dáil outlining the spending cuts yesterday, a handful of junior ministers began to applaud.

They quickly stopped when they realised neither the senior ministers nor the coalition backbenchers were prepared to do likewise.

It seemed like a cold rejection of the first part of this year’s Budget. But it was nothing more than Fine Gael and Labour TDs being cautious.