Lenihan’s legacy

IS there anybody who thinks Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan is anything but the saviour of the nation?

Does he get anything wrong?

Could he have miscalculated when he said Anglo was going to incur a loss of €2.5bn (now €29bn and rising)... when he said we’re at the bottom and the economic situation is stabilising... when he said the recession is over and there were signs of green shoots.

There is no doubt he is a good debater and everything he says has a certain gravitas.

But I wonder... is he the anti-saviour of the nation, just a waffler, who will be seen historically to have taken the most monumentally incorrect decision (the state guarantee) leading us, and maybe even the rest of Europe, into penury.

And I wonder also... could one Irish bank bring down Europe?

Brendan Ronayne

Bridgewater

Carrigrohane

Co Cork