Paying the price for pat on head from Merkel

Surprise, surprise, we are back in recession again.

Enda and the lads are scratching their heads and wondering how this can be. Fear not, they say, let’s try the Lehman excuse and blame it on the delinquent Brits and Europeans and those dastardly Americans for fouling things up yet again.

The rampant demise of our nation has nothing to do with the fact that we have ripped €28bn out of the Irish domestic economy and broken every pre-election promise in the process. The destruction of the fabric and cohesion of our society has nothing to do with our sophisticated and well-crafted austerity measures. We all know that the 400,000 young people who have emigrated did so as a lifestyle choice and for the craic abroad. The 450,000 unemployed are just indolent and simply need to find work. Children going hungry and unprecedented suicide rates are collateral damage, acceptable in the circumstances when we are feted by Angela for our tough decisions. The pursuit of power and the associated world class trappings must be endured at all costs.