Roche suddenly finds he has time for people who might like to vote

FOLLOWING publication of the Book of Estimates last week, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern warned the cabinet against a spending splurge between now and next summer’s general election because he did not want the Government to be seen to be buying votes.

Apart from the fact that Finance Minister Brian Cowen has something like €60 billion of our money to spend, nobody really believes Fianna Fáil will not be spreading the largesse, especially as Bertie Ahern wants to make it an historic three-in-a-row.

Then the rest of the country stopped laughing long enough to realise that one minister, at least, was more than determined to take his leader literally.