Punchestown whitewash won’t stick to Walsh and McCreevy

THE very first thing the report of the Public Accounts Committee into the €14.8m handed over to the Punchestown horsy set did was to send in a ringer.

(A ringer, in racing parlance, means racing a horse that looks similar to another, but is in fact much better.) In this case, it was a loser, and was more of a scapegoat than a horse.

The PAC put civil servants, and in particular the departments of Agriculture and Finance, in the frame. Into the sunset rode the Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy and the Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh.