Why is this man laughing (right)?

Bertie is chuckling not only because his friends gave him €50,000 and 25 businessmen in Manchester gave him €8,000 but because he has given himself a 138% pay rise over the last 10 years.

Bertie's salary has risen from €112,159 when he first took office on 1 January, 1997, to €266,492.

The figures also show that, 10 years ago, the Taoiseach was paid six times the average industrial wage. But today, that gap has widened to 8.5 times the wage of an average Irish worker.