It’s rare that an experienced politician makes a faux-pas like that made by Minister Michael Noonan earlier today, but to make two in one day would suggest that his time in Dáil Éireann is up.
The one-time Minister for Health who once led the Fine Gael Party to near-electoral annihilation, seems intent in finishing now what he almost achieved then.
Speaking about the state-owned AIB Bank, Mr. Noonan advised investors not to buy shares in the Bank. By mid-afternoon, 25% had been wiped off the value of AIB shares, the single biggest drop since the Bank was nationalised.
Pleased but not finished, the Minister went on to insult the vast bulk of the Irish electorate who are bitterly opposed to the obscene quango that is Irish Water, by implying that their opposition to an EU-inspired, double taxation charge is unreasonable.
What is clear to any reasonable Irish person is that Mr. Noonan’s days in a position of power are numbered and the country will breathe a collective sigh of relief when he and his Fine Gael colleagues can do no more harm