At last a breath of fresh air in the wake of the calamitous collapse of MMI Stockbrokers. The liquidator, Mr Tom Kavanagh, of Kavanagh Chartered Accountants, has said he will pursue those people who owed the firm money as a result of the dubious roll-over arrangements they had made with it. This is only right. It is his job as liquidator to maximise the return for the firm's creditors and the only way he can do this in a case such as this, where MMI's only assets are its debtors, is to chase them for the money they owe.

But, apart altogether from the legal obligations of the liquidator, such a move might usher in a welcome dose of reality to equity dealing by small investors. Despite the sage advice given to all small investors to "never play the stock market with money you cannot afford to lose", it appears that hundreds of MMI's clients did so, albeit with the willing acquiescence of the firm. While that can reap handsome dividends in the good times, it is a huge gamble and, in this case, the mini-collapse of the market in September meant the arrival of the time of reckoning.

Those who, like former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald in a similar situation, took a punt with money they did not have, can have little call upon our sympathy now.