Precision required

Taoiseach Enda Kenny stirred up a hornets’ nest when he complained at Davos that “people simply went mad borrowing” in this country.

Not everybody went mad borrowing. Some young couples had to borrow to buy a modest home. They may now be victims of negative equity, and have trouble meeting their mortgage repayments, because they lost part of their incomes in the economic downturn, through no fault of their own.

Blaming them would seem grossly unfair, but then Mr Kenny has clarified that he was not referring to such people. No doubt he understands their reaction to his criticism, because some of the criticism of him has been over the top, too.