The Budget and the Old Reliable

Michael Noonan announced a 40c increase in the price of an old reliable — at the same time 260km away, a muffled groan went up in the Old Reliable.

The patrons of this particular saloon, on Cork’s Shandon St, had been keeping more than one eye on proceedings as Budget 2015 unfolded on two televisions. The view expressed beforehand by proprietor Pat Healy summed up the mood: “The only thing coming down is the fecking rain.

“It’s all about money, money, money,” Pat continued. The repeated cuts of recent budgets have been “cruel”, he insisted, claiming the household tax and water charges “are all kind of nails in the coffin”.