The new government may promise to ‘hit the ground running’, and that its first 100 days will be crucial to the success of its programme of ambitious reforms. However, you and I might want to keep our expectations somewhat lower.

The single largest problem facing this state is the enormous debt we carry, both collectively and individually.

The volume of interest we are being charged for the €85 billion EU/IMF bailout alone can only be paid if at least €5-€10 billion worth of other bills are cut, or we find €5-€10 billion of extra revenue.