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THERE IS an old proverb, much revived by 19th-century Irish nationalists, warning of “three things for a man to avoid: the heels of a horse, the horns of a bull and the smile of an Englishman”, writes FINTAN O’TOOLE

With Nama, we are now betting the house on three equally trustworthy things. The integrity and economic acuity of Fianna Fáil; the wise judgments of “independent” experts from the financial and property worlds; and the rigour of regulators whose traffic lights have two colours: orange for “what the hell are you doing?” and green for “ah sure go ahead”.