31 March 2011
Anyone still blinded by euro-spin, or still suffering under the delusion that the European Union is some sort of benign force in the affairs of this state, need only look at the imposition of even greater debt upon the Irish people in order to keep bankrupt Irish banks afloat and thereby pay their debts to German, French, British and Dutch banks.
The black hole that is the Irish banking system was revealed as never before with the results of the bank “stress tests” today. The Government will throw another €24 billion or more down this bottomless pit, bringing the total so far to €70 billion. That’s the estimate for now.
The European Central Bank laid down the benchmark for this clientelist Government when it made it clear that the Government should not cede ground to the mood of the people and that the senior bond-holders should not pay the price for their reckless speculation. What is clear is that, no matter what the Irish people believe or demand, this Government and its EU masters will put the interest of big finance houses ahead of them.
The Government is hoping that somehow it can cobble together two semi-functioning banks out of the mess that is the Irish banking system. They are as bankrupt as the previous Government was and as the Irish banks they are trying to save.
There are no solutions to be found in the straitjacket that is being imposed that will be in the interests of the people. There are no solutions to be found that put the people first either in the policies being pursued by this Government or in the road map imposed by the EU-IMF deal.
Let the people have their say! Give them the opportunity to vote in a referendum on whether they wish this and future generations to be bonded labourers to pay off debts that are not theirs.
