Let’s gape in awe at our mountain of debt – and then climb over it

A NEW ‘national question’ stalks the land. The historical civil war between pro- and anti-treaty was replaced by extreme points of view on the North. These were represented as either a ‘Brits out’ and unitary state perspective or allowing a veto for unionist consent.

The Belfast Agreement, subsequent referendum and devolution delivered a consensus.

Division now relates to the nation’s solvency. The two camps separate into those who believe we are pursuing a path towards sovereign debt default versus those who decry the doomsday naysayers as the biggest obstacle to economic recovery. The Government are the principal cheerleaders of optimism.