Electoral prudence springs into action

What to make of the government’s spring statement.

As an exercise in political theatre, the speeches delivered by Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin last week were, putting it mildy, uninspiring. The statements, a new arrival to the political and economic landscape, went largely unnoticed by the general public – and indeed by the political establishment. Everyone, it seems, was more interested in the rumbling Siteserv controversy.

But this misses the point. The watchword of each of the statements was prudence. Yes, ...