Gone are the days when Budget Day held the Irish nation in its grip. The glorious giveaways of the Celtic Tiger era were followed by the engrossing (albeit gut-wrenching) budgets when our economy fell off a cliff in immediate years post-2008.
Nowadays it’s all fairly humdrum pre-announced/leaked stuff (just like last year’s) all set against the boring new politics backdrop of ‘confidence and supply’ and the perennially suffocating fiscal space.
The Twitterverse did it’s best however…
Budget speech kicked off…without anticipated delays 😉
#Budget18: Delays already expected as Taoiseach can't decide on what socks to wear. '€' signs was the early favourite.
— WWN (@WhispersNewsLTD) October 10, 2017
No change to the pint…or the naggin…
Praying they don’t touch the naggin’s or the wine #Budget18
— Dublin Girlo (@dublin_girlo) October 10, 2017
…but some were crying into their fizzy drinks
Today is a very, very bad day for sunbed loving smokers partial to fizzy drinks. They'll be worse of by more than 500 quid a year. #Budget18
— Conor Pope (@conor_pope) October 10, 2017
The Irish for tax is cáin, not to be confused with caoin, the verb to weep. #Budget18
— The Irish For 🎃 (@theirishfor) October 10, 2017
There was plenty of confidence and supply from FF!
Opposition Fianna Fáil style – the natural party of government. Strap yourselves in, folks. The next week will be a hoot.#Budget18 #CBLive pic.twitter.com/DR4qG9T6FG
— Darren O'Keeffe (@Darren606) October 9, 2017
Sunbed VAT rise got glowing praise…
Happy to see the VAT on sun beds being raised from 13.5% to the full rate of 23% following #Budget18 @DrRobertOConnor @IrishCancerSoc
— Kate O'Connell TD (@campaignforkate) October 10, 2017
…but some thought it was beyond the pale!
News Filters Through To Sunbed Enthusiasts As VAT Rate Raised From 13.5% To 23%#Budget18 #Sunbeds pic.twitter.com/WTx42Gmq4L
— Feach News (@_FeachNews) October 10, 2017
And finally… don’t leave your home unattended tonight!
Announcement today in relation to tax deductibility for expenditure incurred in bringing a vacant home back in to use is welcome. #Budget18
— VacantHomes.ie (@VacanthomesIRL) October 10, 2017
As a bonus, here is the Liam Burns & Co Guide to Budget 2018…it’s the TL;DR version (with very few laughs).
"Experience with Liam Burns & Co working on my accounts has been excellent. Liam and his team were always one step ahead in account preparations and fast in responding to any queries; making it as easy as possible. I never had to worry about business account management which speaks for itself. "