SCAVENGING THE BUDGET ENTRAILS
All of the Sundays scavenged among the entrails of last Tuesday’s Budget with mixed results in terms of unearthing anything left over from the extensive coverage by their media colleagues during the week. Most of the newspapers concentrate on interviews, providing detailed case studies on the harsh reality for people behind the ubiquitous number crunching.
The most comprehensive treatment is to be found in The Sunday Business Post, which devotes an eight-page supplement to the Budget on top of copious coverage throughout the rest of the newspaper. Perhaps it is playing to its constituency, or perhaps it was too good an opportunity to make a bit of revenue from accountancy giant Ernst & Young – sponsors of the supplement. Either way, it presents an exhaustive and exhausting package delving into just about every aspect of how Budget 2011 will affect all of us.
The phraseology used by the Ernst & Young commentators to describe Finance Minister Brian Lenihan’s fiscal measures leaves little room for either doubt or optimism: they certainly can’t be accused of sitting on the fence. This budget is ‘draconian’ and has several ‘unwelcome’ facets to it.