Lagarde must think politicians are too clever by half

“The way the Irish have played this is very clever, they have got everyone to pull together,” So said Ms Cristine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund in an interview with the Financial Times last month.

She effusively praised Enda Kenny and the Government for the “clever” way they have implemented tough cuts while keeping the public on side, also saying that she was very impressed with how Irish politicians have managed to implement reforms while maintaining social cohesion.

I suspect something was lost in translation and what she really meant was that the Irish politicians were too “clever by half”.