There is a lazy and simplistic way of looking at what Irish voters did in the general election. They want more stuff from the State and they rewarded those who promised to deliver it. This is depicted as “populism” and therefore it is bad, according to this analysis. It would lead to a rapid expansion of the public sector of the economy, which is the handbasket in which we will all go hell.

The simplistic view is that a responsible government must now be formed and it must take a firm stand against this “populism”. Otherwise, we will kill the goose of foreign investment that lays all the golden eggs.