King of Kings, Darius the Great, the leader of the 'pre-Roman' Persian Empire, was the first leader in history to develop a modern civil service. Darius believed that the destruction of opponent's cities was a waste of resources, so he would send ambassadors to demand a symbolic gift of earth and water from his quarry, and thereby take control without bloodshed. The policy was of course backed up by a mighty military.

It is quite amazing how little has changed in 2,500 years. Ireland is a little state on the edge of the world facing demands from outside forces. The international monetary system, which pumped billions of euro into this country, is now demanding that it be pumped back out again. There is no symbolism about the compelled gifts we are offering up. So far we have delivered €35bn through the 'Anglo Irish gate', and nearly €20bn through the AIB and BOI gates. But the teeming hoards are not satisfied. We are forced to borrow at even higher rates of interest from the international bankers, so that we can pay back the international bankers. History has always delivered such woe to the vanquished.

It is no exaggeration to state that the upcoming budget, the budget of a thousand cuts, will represent a sacrificial offering of blood and tears. The orthodoxy that the international banking community should be completely forgiven for making reckless loans to idiots like Sean FitzPatrick is set in stone. It now seems that we as a society have equally accepted as gospel that we too need to turn on the weakest in our society, to make them pay tribute to the foreign bankers who funded the reckless fools in Fianna Fáil, and in Irish banking and building. There is one lesson from history that this vile government and the international bankers should remember. That is, the seemingly powerless and weak sometimes snap back when you least expect it. There is a limit to the amount of earth and water, blood and tears that any vanquished people can be expected to pay. This is the reason why the Persian, and all empires, eventually fall.

Declan Doyle

Lisdowney

Kilkenny