IMF 'unlikely to take over Irish economy'

This is the mind-boggling title of a piece in the Irish Examiner today. According to the paper, "A top official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the organisation is not likely to take over the running of Ireland's finances." Whew! We were all panicking! I had no idea that the IMF was in the business of taking over national economies.

The article also contains this gem: "Caroline Atkinson, director of external relations with the IMF, says the organisation views itself as a "doctor with a patient", rather than police "with a criminal"."

Given the state of its parlous finances, the IMF is more of a patient than Ireland.