Effects of slashed budgets will be felt for years to come

You know times are tough when bad news is given a Hollywood makeover and presented as good news simply because it wasn’t quite as horrific as first feared.

Last Wednesday was a case in point as word emerged from Kildare Street that the government’s fiscal scissors had snipped 2.9% from the sports budget for 2013 and not the 5.9% figure which had been expected.

Result, right? Hardly.