Banks kept alive by the state can now send viable firms to the wall

LAST Monday the Fianna Fáil TD Frank Fahey joined the small band of interviewees who have offered me a bet live on radio to emphasise his certainty of the point he was making.

Explaining why the Government should be happy to take a 15.7% shareholding in Bank of Ireland (BoI) instead of the €250m in cash that it was due, Fahey declared he was “certain” this would prove a good investment by the state and that the shares would be worth more in the future than they are now.

That’s where the bet came in: he wanted to wager that if we spoke again after 12 months the price of BoI shares would be higher than they were on Monday. Not being one to make rash bets, especially live on national radio, I declined, upon which he offered to limit the bet to a pint.