Dr. Donal Donovan:

I hesitate to respond to Deputy Mathews, but I will take my life into my hands. In my experience, most debt issues are resolved not on the basis of one side claiming a moral high ground, but on pragmatic grounds as to what is in the mutual interests of both parties. Moral arguments about debt, stirring and heartfelt though they may be, do not tend to get one far. The debtor and the creditor will say many things and there will be a stand-off. What matters is whether doing a deal is in the parties' mutual interests when the cost of not doing a deal is high for both of them. Clearly, discussions-----