Madam, – Congratulations to the Government on negotiating the terms of the “national recovery fund” in the national interest. What a pity it is the German national interest rather than ours. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – This is not an €85 billion bailout, it is a €67.5 billion mortgage that our zombie Government has signed up for.
It is an old-style mortgage (a type not much in favour during the boom years), where Mother Ireland has been forced to deposit €17.5 billion of her cash reserves in order to obtain 30 pieces of silver from our IMF/ECB masters.
Has it come to this pass, that the risk-taking bondholders lose not one cent for their recklessness, while the citizens of Ireland, most especially the Irish poor, pay dearly in this new “age of austerity”. Surely this is socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor? To misquote Scotland’s great bard Robbie Burns; “I make this declaration, that we’re bought and we’re sold for European gold, such a parcel of rogues in a nation”! – Yours, etc,
Madam, – According to the Government, the combined annual average interest rate will be of the order of 5.8 per cent per annum. If we exclude the State’s contribution of €17.5 billion which is interest-free then the average interest rate on the borrowed €67.5 billion rises to 7.3 per cent.
If correct, this rate assumes an even chance of Ireland defaulting on the loans. What is the point of the bailout if there is such a high risk of failure? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – With the announcement of such a punitive interest rate on the so-called “bailout” funds, the EU authorities have hammered the final nail into the coffin of the European project. So much for solidarity! Throughout my life I have been a committed supporter of the European integration and the EU.
No more! – Yours, etc,
Madam, – When European banks were lending recklessly we, like others, failed to regulate the banks operating in our territory. For this we must serve our 300 years on the Sea of Moyle.
But our European neighbours are not lending so that we can bail out our banks. They are lending so that we can bail out theirs. In a just world, lender and borrower would split responsibility fairly and the taxpayers of the EU would pay for their own failures. Instead, the strong are loading the entire burden onto the shoulders of the weak. They now own our Government and they will soon confiscate our resources when we fail to pay them their pound of flesh. What the British failed to do with a succession of armies, European officials are about to achieve with a piece of paper and a pen.
It is time to stop fighting each other and start fighting back.
Per capita, we are the richest people in the world. We are sitting on a crock of gold that keeps filling no matter how much we take from it. We have what Europe desperately needs: energy.
Here’s the deal. We take the bailout money and offer the bondholders 20 per cent now or 100 per cent in 20 years. With the balance we build offshore wind farms to supply Europe with as much electricity as we can make and we manufacture the equipment here. Everyone is a winner. The Europeans get secure energy. The bondholders get secure investment. We get immediate employment, permanent income and we keep ownership of our resources. – Yours, etc,
Madam, Winston Churchill once said, “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” He was right then and he’s right now. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is inconceivable that Government “poker players” would negotiate a deal with the ECB/IMF that would better favour Irish taxpayers knowing that a new government will shortly be in power to clean up the mess left by the current administration. This deal has more to do with Fianna Fáil’s long-term interest than the national interest. Shameful. – Yours, etc,