Mr. David McWilliams:

I received two telephone calls, neither of them from persons who would have been household names. This goes back to a very important point. In Ireland, we have an inability to accept reality. It is a national issue we have. In a crisis, the most important thing is to define one's reality not as one would like the world to be but as it actually is. Once one has defined that reality and got the facts, then one can do something about it. Once something has been done about it, one can then face into the crisis. It struck me that in Ireland, all the way through 2007 and 2008, the official policy was to delay and pray. It was a case of we will say everything is grand and pray the cavalry will come over the hill and save us.