But isn’t Charlie great craic all the same, sayin’ Jaysus in the paper and all. Sure didn’t he give us the Celtic tiger so he must be right. They wouldn’t just wheel him out to restore confidence or anything.
Sure it’ll be grand.
And the Euro, and the SSIAs. He was the Finance Minister who just kept giving.
Not to mention the glory that was decentralisation! 
It’s a scandal that nobody’s given him credit yet for the heatwave he gave us in summer 2003. Sure since he left what rubbish summers we’ve had
McCreevy was one of the few politicians we ever had with the balls to stand up to the vested interests and in thanks he was shafted.
McCreevy wasn’t the worst Minister for Finance we’ve had, nor was he the best. Right of centre when that’s what we needed although very pro cyclical in his economic apprach (more accountant than econimist, we’ll spend it if when we have it, rather than pacing and targeting the expenditure to build long term and flatten the ups and downs of the cycle).
As for …
… he gave us neither. For both, yes both, we have to ‘thank’ the EU.
SSIA’s were introduced in respons to the EU critisising Ireland for an inflationary budget (guess who was FinMin at the time), which could have derailed our plans for Euro membership. Rather than roll back on popularist promises of tax cuts in the budget the government, very wounded by the European citisisim introduced a scheme to take cash out of the economy … hence the SSIA was born.
Strange how FF have managed to rewrite history on that one, and very few remember the origins of the SSIA … revisionism at work.
Blue Horseshoe
Policiticians will always be politicians, but I reckon Charlie and Seamus Brennan are the only two in recent times with any conviction. And Brennan was duly shafted too.
Agreeing or disagreeing with them is another thing entirely.
that’s true. but the whip around at the galway races put an end to his ideas. he still suppored his equine frinds though.
Oh … it was tongue-in-cheek. But thanks for the extra background on the SSIA.
I hope y’all sinners got ya repentin’ kneepads ready
He shafted Ms OW (plus other looking to startup) with one of his devious cuts back when he was at the helm wielding his knife, i.e. so she lost out by a short number of weeks to qualify for very modest funding enjoyed by so many other start ups (of which some of the current millionaire class are beneficiaries of no less )… two fingers to that flute, she did it without it though it has been more of a struggle and yet she employs others in Manufacturing no less… Another myth busted, FF are no ones party but their party at the end of the day they do it for themselves … an no one else.
So he may have stood up to vested interests but he sure as hell made sure to scupper those with an energy to do it for themselves.
The only vested that matters is the monopoly of FF. Where is our David? Oh yea he’s a doomonger too…
Brennan??? 
Oh please if smurfs had wings… lets privatise the buses and create sinlge monopoly routes… aka as competiton of the monopolies.
Well he did a fine job at Aer Lingus when I was there. NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT.
I reckon he was on the duty free the whole time. No one has been as bad as he was. Everything he’s said about the breakup of Aer Rianta has turned out not to happen (Cork & Shannon debt free - NOT; open competition for a second terminal - NOT; metro link to the airport by 2009 - NOT). Even Mary O’Rourke wallowing in her bath was better. Martin Cullen apparently said that before he came along “there was no vision and no plan” for transport.
Let’s not forget the famous…
“back of the envelope” calculation for the cost of the metro… Or was it the Luas, anyway on PrimeTime, he admitted that’s how a Minister costs huge government programmes.
He was a fool and will always be a fool.
Plus, he was entirely captured by the Progressive Democrats, never has there been a more ideologically defunct politician.
After yesterday’s conference by the Government,
does Charlie still think the Doommongers were wrong I wonder!
McCreevy’s above comments were only made in October last year, but it looks like McWilliams and Lee are not the only ones now coming clean about how bad things are, according to the following article from the UK’s Guardian: