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E-mailI was already angry at the government borrowing money to prop up the loan books and liquidity of reckless banks. I read with disgust that in September, on top of all the other burdens, €55bn had to be found to pay bank bondholders for bonds that had matured. The banks didn't have it, nor did the Department of Finance have it lying around.
I phoned and emailed the Department of Finance, Central Bank and Brian Lenihan's office asking how this €55bn was paid off. I got some waffle, and no answer.
I can only assume we've borrowed it, and then given it to the banks.
This is equivalent to being forced to remortgage your house in order to pay people who are owed money by the local bookie. And it works out at over €12,000 per man, woman and child in the country, and that's before interest.
None of us would agree to it, no matter what type of waffle was presented. Yet as a national policy, talking heads try to defend it on the airwaves, and this nonsense is given some credence.
To those of us who have been side-tracked into arguing over the crumbs, (cutting minimum wage, or whether pensioners or the unemployed should be screwed, rather than students) I say, you are missing the big picture. The longer this government is in power, the more it will drag us into debt to pay off banking speculators.
Like most people in this country who are not TDs, tax exiles or speculators, I work hard to provide for my family. I pay taxes because I like the idea of schools, hospitals and a transport system, as well as a safety net for those who lose their health or jobs. The rest is for rent, food, clothes, etc and a small bit for the kids' piggy bank. Nowhere in our family budget is there a provision to support bank and property speculators, and at the same time hope our children won't be educated in prefabs, worry about being on hospital trolleys, paying for drinking water, or having to emigrate because the economy goes down the tubes. My children are my responsibility; my duty is to them.
I would encourage us all to resist this scam, by strike, boycott or whatever peaceful means are at our disposal, until we are rid of gombeens and vultures, and can get on with our lives, more vigilant than before of the dangers of trusting the 'experts'.
Tim Hourigan
Cedar Court,
Kennedy Park, Limerick
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The writer of this letter must be utterly enthralled and inspired that his Government has trawled the ranks of failed bankers and others with as much connection to corporate governance in the financial sector as an Elvis impersonator when it populated the institution that are supposed to be the icon of the future of Ireland - such as the Central Bank Commission.
This is all part of the journey that will result in Ireland becoming a third, or perhaps a fourth world country. Mugabe will be looking down his nose at us with imperial conceit in ten years if he survives another decade.