At Kenny’s level of income there is not that much pain in a pay cut

WOULD I have advised Enda Kenny to take a pay cut, all by his little self? Are you kidding? I’d have stayed a mile away from the suggestion, partly because his colleagues were inevitably going to be asked if they’d do likewise and fail to be thrilled by the possibility, but mainly because I know his wife.

Fionnuala Kenny is a warm and charming and direct woman. I would be fearful that suggesting she manage on a smaller budget as a symbolic gesture of solidarity with a pressured nation might make her less warm and charming and a lot more direct.

What was funny about the Kenny pay cut was the way the announcement happened. It’s unique in Irish history: the only political promise ever released by accident AFTER it had already been delivered on.