Echoes of Haughey

SPEAKING of the ordinary citizen, the one liberating element in the Taoiseach’s address to the nation were his words: “You are not responsible for the crisis.”

This has had to be said by the powers that be for a long time.

However, viewed in the context of the breech of the salary limit for his new advisor, his words “Right now, you are spending €16bn a year more than you are earning” rings hollow and has a distinct echo in Charles Haughey’s “We (meaning you) are living way beyond our means” and prescription of hair shirts for Sean citizen while he popped champagne and donned Charvet shirts.