McCarthy report - Last chance to avert bankruptcy

THE reactions to the McCarthy report were as polarised as they were predictable. Some were provoked by fear, others by a sense of injustice, more by an angry feeling that the weakest in our society were disproportionately targeted.

There is an argument too that rural communities may be asked to endure more than their fair share of the pain.

Other immediate reactions were shaped by a sense of wounded professional dignity. Others by a feeling that cosseted power blocs were to be threatened, or at the very least scrutinised, as never before.