Eight billion, plus two, minus credibility
Within days, Fine Gael has destroyed its carefully contrived reputation
After just two days of the general election campaign, Fine Gael's strategy collapsed. The party is running on its alleged economic expertise. It would "keep the recovery going". That supposed expertise has been irretrievably destroyed.
The Michael Noonan fans in the media seem somewhat reluctant to admit this, but it's beyond argument.
Later, we'll advance a hypothesis as to what happened. Might the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance have known they were misleading voters? It may or may not be so - it depends on how you read events. But it's more credible than Mr Noonan's alleged economic shrewdness.
