The IMF have become more like a mother-in-law after the bailout

During the boom, we heard a couple of warnings from the IMF but we took no notice, writes Colm O’Regan

THE year is closing in. This time reminds people of different things. Autumn colours, the smell of woodsmoke, the sounds of young lads throwing bangers on the ground next to you and running away laughing, the feeling of looking forward to getting the extra hour in bed and then staying up two hours later than you normally would, thereby making a net loss.

Everyone has some memory triggered by this time. I think about debating. There, I’ve said it. I did debating in secondary school. You’re probably surprised that someone as hard-partying as me would have been involved in something as academic as school debating.