It’s Noonan’s moment of truth — can he change the course of the nation?

MICHAEL NOONAN can correctly claim a lot of credit for the resuscitation of Fine Gael in the polls since last June by providing a credible anchor of economic policy.

Since 1981 he has been the master of the sound bite, transposing complex issues into smart one liners that are readily understandable. His reward is the poison chalice of finding solutions to fixing our bankrupt banks. Unlike Brian Lenihan, he cannot have the alibi of a fool’s pardon. When Lenihan claimed the bank guarantee would be the cheapest bailout ever, he probably believed his own rhetoric, not knowing the real level of losses.

Noonan inherits a legacy of failed initiatives. The taxpayer is all out of ammunition having underwritten Anglo Irish Bank by €34bn and Nationwide Building Society by €5.4bn, without any prospect of a return. The remaining four institutions, AIB, BoI, EBS and IL&P are subject to liquidity and capital stress tests that are almost completed. Two key portents have emerged that compound a dire situation. Firstly, ECB and our Central Bank emergency support has increased to €187bn to the end of February, with an extra exposure to Dame Street of €19bn. Secondly, Alan Dukes told the truth during the election, that the EU/IMF bailout package for the banks was insufficient by €15bn of recapitalisation and €25bn of bond finance over a decade.