Mr Noonan, we should not move on

So now it’s official.

Michael Noonan, the Minister for Finance, last week stated that the €64bn bank recapitalisation or debt relief was not being pursued by the Government. Inexplicably, he further stated that he was against debt relief for any country, including Ireland.

He seemed quite proud that we had received some relief by way of extended maturity dates and lower interest charges; those interest payments now being down to a mere €7bn a year and our overall debt is now less than 100% of GDP, something of the order of €150bn. Finally, he said that “we should all move on”, as things are much better than they were in 2010.