Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

Two days later, the Government announced it wouldn't put €1.5bn into Anglo. It would instead nationalise the bank, at even greater potential cost to the taxpayer.

Why? Because Anglo is the country's "third-biggest bank". Well, it's not.

Yes, in money terms it's huge. But Anglo isn't a high street bank. It's a casino within which rich people -- speculators, developers, builders -- gambled on the property bubble.

Yes, it's huge in money terms, but not because it's embedded in the Irish economy -- only because it borrowed and loaned to reckless extremes, for gambling purposes.

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

No Irish citizen has any interest in Lenihan's great gamble failing, but the unknown, unknowns make the chances of failure extremely high. If we don't know how much the bad debts will be how can we, with any certainty, say that the €7bn figure will be enough?

Everybody knows that the war is over

Mr Kenny instanced the case of a public servant on €15,000 who would have a net reduction in take-home pay of €450, a decline of 3 per cent. Somebody on €19,500 would have a net reduction of €105 because he or she paid 0.5 per cent due to the taxation system.

A single public servant earning €36,400 would have pay reduced by €1,769, while another single person on €40,000 would suffer a reduction of €1,649. A married person earning €45,400 would have take-home pay reduced by €2,537, but somebody earning €55,000 would have €2,403 deducted. “These are clearly anomalous situations,” said Mr Kenny.

Everybody knows the good guys lost

Flare ups in the Dail today as Labour staged a walkout over questions to Brian Lenihan on the recapitalisation package

Everybody knows the fight was fixed

He chose this morning to announce that he was closing the classrooms of over 500 special needs children

The poor stay poor, the rich get rich

people expressing anger at how the bankers, builders, stockbrokers etc who got us into this mess were getting away Scot free. There is an expectation at the few dozen people who contributed greatly to the rapid descent in our economy must pay the price.

That's how it goes

All over the world, governments are being destabilised by the consequences of dealing with the economic trauma. As jobs are lost and incomes cut, disgruntled workers are taking to the streets to vent their anger. The years of plenty are over.

Everybody knows

HE might not be able to bring himself to say sorry to the people of Ireland, or even to his former shareholders, but Sean FitzPatrick will one day admit that he was wrong.

That's what millionaire businessman Ben Dunne believes the former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank will have to do if he is to overcome his "addiction to money".

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking

“I have behaved in a competent manner as Minister for Finance.”

Everybody knows that the captain lied

The circular mechanism used to transfer the temporary deposit enabled Anglo Irish to categorise the money as a customer deposit, enabling the bank to prop up its deposit levels and disguise the dramatic levels of withdrawals suffered by the bank during the unprecedented financial upheaval last September.

Everybody got this broken feeling

No-one has any cash and companies without cash-flow are going bust. This week alone three friends of mine told me they are going out of business.

Like their father or their dog just died

Deflation takes hold and it causes people and companies to go bankrupt which leads to the banking system imploding and the economy moves into a depression. As people feel that deflation is around the corner, they put off spending until the future when they feel they will get a lower price.

Everybody talking to their pockets

There could not be a worse time to announce the investment of €7bn of public money into AIB and Bank of Ireland - or into any bank.

Everybody wants a box of chocolates

The owners said last night it will continue in business under direction of the liquidator, with no loss of the 40 full- and part-time staff jobs. “The existing management and staff will continue with the Sandhouse and it will remain open for business as usual.” The hotel, closed for the winter, reopens on St Valentine’s weekend.

And a long stem rose

Public sector unions have given notice that they intend to stage a day of action next Saturday, St Valentine’s Day, demonstrating at TDs’ offices. It will be followed by other demonstrations. There will be bells, whistles, drums and speeches vowing to fight the pension levy to the end.

Everybody knows

Unlike the previous recession in Ireland, this time there is little point emigrating as other countries such as the UK and the US are also experiencing jobs crises.