'Squeezed middle' underwhelmed by budget aimed at lightening their load

While the intention and rhetoric around much of this budget are admirable, the reaction online from those at which the budget was aimed was somewhat tepid

Finance Minister Michael McGrath and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe: Spending of over €95bn puts around €1,000 a year back into the pocket of workers, with a myriad of other measures to ease the harshest edges of inflation, but it was met mostly with a shrug.

In the cynical world of politics and media, budgets can be seen as attempts to grab votes.

Manifestos are nice but don't tell me what you'll do for me, show me.