Politics by Numbers is a new series for The Journal where broadcaster, author and spreadsheet stan Gavan Reilly takes a data deep dive into a political point of the week.

WITHOUT MUCH FANFARE, the curtain is coming down this week on an enormously important era in Irish history. With shareholders today approving a takeover of PTSB, the State will sell its final shareholding in the Irish banking system – the final step of a €64.1 billion process that began in the dismal spring of 2009 with the takeover of Anglo Irish Bank and quickfire injections of cash into AIB and Bank of Ireland.

Tomorrow, meanwhile, Nama is officially dissolved. The ‘bad bank’ set up to warehouse the property-related debts has managed its portfolio and sold off all but a tiny remnant of its loan book.

It’s coincidental that this week also marked the visit of a German Chancellor to Ireland – given how the last two visits have come at what felt like key inflexion points in the country’s modern past.

Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

In 2014, Angela Merkel was officially in Dublin for a congress of EPP member parties, but took the opportunity to visit Government Buildings for a bilateral with Enda Kenny.

It was only two years since her public image as the architect of austerity had become so notorious; Merkel’s name even appeared as a gag on a banner shown by Irish fans at Euro 2012.

By the time of her visit, Ireland had officially ended its bailout – and the Chancellor was fielding questions about retroactively undoing some of the damage.

Ireland had been somewhat unlucky in the timing of its financial woes, prompted partly by Merkel herself. In October 2010 she and Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, had declared that........

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