I went into AIB with €200 to lodge into my account. AIB refused to take my money. The teller informed me that this was company policy. AIB will only accept coins in specific numbers ie
€50 in €2 euro coins
€25 in €1 or 5c coins
€10 in 20c or 10c coins
€5 in 5c coins
€2 in 2c coins
€1 in 1c coins
I qualified for €10 in 10c coins and €2 in 2c coins and so managed to lodge €12 to my account. You'd think that a bank that is so close to failing would accept any deposit, especially after copious bailouts from the Irish taxpayer. I had no idea that banks could have a policy to refuse legal tender. When I looked it up, it turns out that according to the Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998
No person, other than the Central Bank of Ireland and such persons as may be designated by the Minister by order, shall be obliged to accept more than 50 coins denominated in euro or in cent in any single transaction.
Does that mean I have to spend money on a ticket to Dublin to lodge my money? Anyone else think that this is idiotic? Maybe during the "Tiger" years people might have been embarrassed to pay with 2c coins. In the current depression, I think that'd probably changed. In Lidl the other day, I bought a few bottles of olive oil with 10c, 5c, 2c and 1c coins. The cashier had no problem with it. Those coins do add up.
I've been saving my change for a while now. I thought that it could be a rainy day fund and €200 is nothing to sneeze at. But, according to AIB it's fiddling small change. I wanted to pay my rent and the bank refused to accept my money. Strange times to live in.
This story from the Indo is almost beyond belief - h/t from mediabite on Twitter
NAMA-BOUND property developers Derek Quinlan, Treasury Holdings' Johnny Ronan, Ballymore Properties' Sean Mulryan and Paddy McKillen, one of the so called "Anglo 10", have all emerged as major donors to the Vatican.
The property developers were named in the top 10 borrowers whose loans were bound for Nama in the first wave of transfers last week. Some €16bn worth of loans associated with the 10 biggest borrowers are set to be transferred shortly...
Close to €9m was raised from donors for the restoration project. The donors were given special medallions after a private mass in the Pauline chapel, celebrated by Cardinal Lajolo last July. Solid gold 'Michelangelo' medallions were given to donors who had given more than $1m, with silver 'Raphael' medallions for donors of $500,000 plus. 'Bramante' medals were presented to donors of $250,000 or more. A marble plaque listing the names of all 26 donors, including the Irish builders and bankers, was unveiled in the chapel.
That there are significant links between the Golden Circle and the Vatican feels creepy to me. The Golden Circle represent all that is rotten in Irish property development and banking and they are donors to the Vatican. The same Vatican that covered up the child abuse of thousands in the Dublin Archdiocese. It is repugnant
What was the backhander? Gold medals are one thing but that's no reason for developers to give so generously. They're not exactly known for their generosity to the Irish state anyway.
Given that the taxpayer is paying their debts, the gold should be sold and put towards the reduction of same.
It just makes me wonder, what else is going to be revealed.
In yesterday's Irish Times The Ceann Comhairle defends his lavish approach to public money
Commenting on the expenses incurred by John O’Donoghue, former minister for tourism and now Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, the department said “every effort is made to secure the best possible rates” for Ministers and their delegations. The statement was in response to a Sunday newspaper report that documents released under the Freedom of Information Act showed Mr O’Donoghue, his wife Kate Ann and his private secretary, ran up a travel bill of more than €100,000 over a period of two years.
In addition to the expenses detailed in the article, it is common knowledge that O'Donoghue takes a helicopter to Kerry if he's going home of an evening and has his state car drive down from Dublin to pick him up. Likewise he sends the state car down to Kerry to pick up his wife if she fancies a day in Dublin. All this at the taxpayers expense.
I thought we got rid of a ruling class in this country when Ireland became a republic. The truth is simple. Members's of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party have become the ruling class and try the country as their personal treasure chest. The taxpayers are the peasants, to be disregarded and mocked as the government places taxes and levies that could be likened to pre-revolutionary France. Well France had their revolution and I think the anger of the Irish people won't be contained for long. The streets may not run red with blood but there may be a few grazes.
The success of Fianna Fáil can be explained in part by the Irish Press. Owned by Dev and his family, it was never critical of the FFers or their policies. A perfect little propaganda machine.
Dev killed our economy and impoverished our parents and grandparents. Dev and all the Taoisigh since him permitted the industrial schools to continue despite extensive reports of abuse. In fact, Ministers for Education disappeared complaints and the entire text of the Cussen report from public records. Lenihan Senior was involved in dismissing complaints too.
Think of Haughey. He had a private island, an estate and racehorses all on a TD, Minister or Taoseach's salary. How is such a thing possible. It is not of course but the journalists of the day did not dare to cross the Short Fella.
How many Fianna Fáil TDs have made Irish politics into a hereditary dynasty? Let's list them
Cowen
Lenihan
Coughlan
O Cuiv
Kitt
Andrews
O Flynn
Ahern
Connolly
Brennan
They have been brought up with the arrogance of petty privilege and the perceived entitlement to rule. We the people have bought their line of bullshit but people have become so disillusioned with the state of Irish government that it is easier to emigrate and be a success elsewhere that try and provoke change in this country. Good people will not stand for election because the ruling elites have the money, power and backing of their party.
I was supporting a candidate for the European elections. A bright guy with policies of change. The truth is that it was extremely difficult to get any publicity or to get on or be given any time on The Last Word, The Right Hook, Drive Time, Prime Time, Pat Kenny Show, Morning Ireland or any of the national newspapers or television current affairs programmes. I know because I phoned every day to try and make it happen. Instead the media focused on Ganley, the candidate with the money and the standing MEP's opinions about Ganley. It's easier to serve on the International Criminal Court than to get heard in Ireland without a political party.
People like O'Donaghue are taking advantage of public money because they can. Because they consider themselves elite. Because the people of Ireland are given little choice in the elections. Just consider this:
John O'Donoghue, his wife Kate Ann, and his private secretary Therese O'Connor ran up a travel bill of over €126,000 in the space of just two years.
Among the expenditure were a series of €900-a-night hotels, €7,591 on "airport pick-ups" during a two-day trip to London, €120 for hat rental, €250 for water taxis and €80 to "Indians for moving the luggage".
On one luxurious trip to Venice, the former arts minister, his wife and the civil servant ran up hotel bills of €5,834 at the Albergo San Marco, the Hotel Cipriani and the San Clemente Palace. The ministerial entourage travelled to Italy by government jet, where they were collected by a private airport boat and taken to their luxury accommodation.
He is not even trying to hide the bill padding. And that's what corruption has come to in Ireland. Why bother hiding it when there are no consequences to such spending, never mind the othering of the luggage handlers - "Indians for moving the luggage" indeed.
One of the main contributing factors to our current economic shitstorm is that Lenihan nationalised Anglo Irish Bank. Now he said he did so because the bank was of systemic importance. Of course, he said that he didn't read that part of the report
Brian Lenihan came under intense political pressure last night, following his admission that he only learned about the transfer of €7 billion to Anglo Irish Bank last month, even though his department informed the Financial Regulator about the issue last October.
... Stressing that he only learnt about the issue last month, he said the money transfer was not identified as a risk factor in the 720-page report. “I did not read the report in its entirety but focused on the risk factors outlined therein.”
He added the Taoiseach had not been given a copy of the report. “It was not circulated to the Taoiseach or to other Ministers. I returned any copies I received because I was conscious of the confidential character of the information involved.”
The conclusion is that either Lenihan is criminally incompetent or criminally ignorant. But what if there was another possibility? The real reason why Anglo was nationalised, aside from bailing out Fianna Fáil' developer buddies and getting kickbacks?
Someone I know was serving at a Fianna Fáil banquet two years ago. What is interesting is that all the bills were paid by cheque. What was more interesting is that all but one cheque were drawn on Anglo Irish Bank. And that is the real reason that Anglo was nationalised. The party's money was tied up in the bank. Lenihan, Cowen and Coughlan would be out in a flash if their grassroots supporters lost their money. FF's motto would seem to be party first, developers second and the country in a distant third.
So Anglo was nationalised. And the country is fucked. We bail out the banks, cut social welfare, put levies on the public service, increase taxes, invent new taxes, levies and charges, cut the already mismanaged and incompetent health service, cut education funding among other austerty measures. Now the taxpayer suffers the consequences of the property bubble, the bailout of the Fianna Fáil developer buddies and the choice to put party before country.
The result is that those of us who have children or plan on procreating have to measure whether it is fair to bring them up in Ireland, knowing that they will be paying for Fianna Fáil's failings in their taxes or emigrating because of a stagnant economy. Is it fair on the children to stay in Ireland? Maybe it's just best to leave once the world economy picks up. Or if you stay, will you stand for election? Let's wrest our country back from the special interest groups and loosen the death grip of the FFers.
SERIOUS MISTAKES were made in Irish banking in the course of the current crisis, former AIB group chairman Dermot Gleeson SC has told the MacGill Summer School at Glenties, Co Donegal.
... “As a former Chairman of AIB the first thing for me to say in plain and unvarnished language is that some serious mistakes were made in Irish banking and there is absolutely no getting away from that,” Mr Gleeson said.
And who exactly was responsible for making those mistakes? Gleeson evasive language is fooling no one (at least I hope so). Take responsibility man, and admit you fucked up.
On another note: arrests? prosecutions? Where are they?
Ireland has gone down the tubes economically and the latest bludget is the topic du jour. Earlier today, I was avidly reading opinion pieces, blog posts and RSS feeds until I came across this piece
Our economy has been raped by a relatively small number of speculators. Sixty, seventy, perhaps a hundred greedy individuals have brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy, abetted by the craven, corrupt and unprincipled political party that now leads our government.
Now I agree with Bock on the greed and hypocrisy of the government but I was shocked out of my reading by his use of the word "raped". I was triggered. I am a two time rape survivor with PTSD. I used the usual methods to try and ride out the worst of it and then I got really fucking angry because what is happening to the Irish economy cannot be compared to rape. It is the misappropriation of my experience and the experience of other survivors.
I am living in Ireland with our shitty government. I have survived rape twice. They are not the same thing. Comparing playing politics with rape is abhorrent but it is possible that Bock did not know how offensive rape in this context is. When I'd calmed down I commented fairly politely I think.
Whatever about the banks, it’s horrible to use “rape” as a verb,
Our economy has been raped by a relatively small number of speculators. Sixty, seventy, perhaps a hundred greedy individuals have brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy, abetted by the craven, corrupt and unprincipled political party that now leads our government.
considering that one in four children and one in three women are raped in this country. Rape is not a word that should be used to describe a failing economy.
Then the author replied thusly.
It’s not being used to describe a failing economy. It’s being used to describe a conscious and brutal violation.
I tried to explain - less politely I admit.
That’s not the same as rape. You do not compare like with like. You take from what you imagine other people’s trauma and experiences to be and apply that to political decisions.
You may know that many rape survivors have PTSD and can be triggered by rape in this context. I can’t speak for every survivor of course but I did not expect to be triggered in a post about the economy and the banks.
Mostly I enjoy your blog but I can’t risk the post traumatic stress fallout that I experience because of that language.
I’m sure others will be kind enough to follow up with tasteful comments about PC police and over-sensitivity.
I’m sorry if you find my choice of language painful but that’s how I choose to describe what has been done to us by these criminals. Nobody has ownership of a word in the language.
Bock is asserting his choice to use the word rape in this context and that nobody can claim ownership of a word. Well of course nobody can claim ownership of a word but words have meaning. He can choose to use the word but it is inaccurate and demonstrates a certain "don't give a fuck" attitude considering that a significant minority of his readers are probably rape survivors, at least statistically speaking.
Rape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent.
And Websters says
An unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent
There are of course older definitions but in modern language rape is as defined above.
I am not trying to take ownership of the word rape but using it in such a context trivialises the crime and the impact on survivors. Since one in four children and one in three women is raped in Ireland, I find the response very insensitive especially since Bock wrote some great posts on child sexual abuse of the Catholic church and is therefore at least partially informed on the subject.
SarahMC on Shakesville's arguments on the subject which express my discomfort with such contextual use.
Why do people use the word "rape" to describe annoyances or hardships that don't come close to being like rape? I bet much of the appeal, for such people, is the shock value of using a word for sexual assault to describe something that has nothing to do with sexual assault.
Implying that failing a test or getting killed in a video game is as traumatizing and horrible as rape trivializes rape. I have never been raped, but I have a strong reaction to the misuse of the word (usually by men). Maybe it's because rape is a crime committed primarily against women. "Killed" and "murdered" don't rub me the wrong way; I think it's because both men and women are killed on a regular basis, by people of both sexes. Our culture does not apologize for murder, deny that it occurs, and immediately blame the victims for what happened to them. And murder goes unpunished far less often than rape.
Maybe it's because of the unapologetic, brash tone people tend to take when they misuse it. When people throw the word around casually, I feel as though they are dismissing rape and failing to put themselves in others' shoes. As the comic illustrates, people who'd use the word "rape" in that context have a massive blind spot when it comes to a threat women live with their whole lives.
People can be so clueless; but they also show a real disregard for others' feelings and comfort (that, or they delight in it). Does anyone have good strategies for confronting people who use triggering or otherwise offensive language in their presence?
And in the comments Melissa nails it
When an acquaintance (associate, coworker, friend-of-a-friend, etc.) casually uses rape in my presence, to mean something Totally Not Like Rape, I usually say, "It seems to me you don't really know what rape is like. I've been raped. Would you like me to explain to you the difference between being raped and ____________?"
So yeah language matters. Meaning matters. Consideration of others matters too.
As for the non apology apology, it's more insulting to faux apologise than to tell a person to just fuck off because you just don't care.
It's been referred to as Cowengate, GUBU 2 and on twitter as #picturegate but the story of the illegal hanging of two nude paintings of Brian Cowen is what's buzzing on the Irish corner of the net. Is this the best public relations strategy in the history of the FFers or a major fuck up by people such as Michael Kennedy TD, who can only comprehend a situation when it is put in terms that he understands. His wife was kind enough to enlighten him on the grevious nature of l'Affaire Cowen.
But soon enough the smiles were wiped from our faces. Dear Leader's minions were up in arms when RTE had the temerity to report the news story.
God knows that we could do with a bit of a laugh – half the country has lost their jobs and the other half is being losing half their income on taxes. But the FFers have lost all sense of proportion and humour, assuming they had any to start off with.
Then Kennedy, the prince of village idiots, contacted RTE director general Cathal Goan and complained about bias and the obviously neferious ageda of RTE. Instead of telling Kennedy to go shite, RTE relinquished its last smidgen of credibility and apologised.
Let me reiterate that. The national broadcaster apologised to the Government for covering a news story.
The broadcaster received a number of complaints about the item on Monday’s 9pm television news, including one from the Taoiseach’s office. RTÉ had deemed the report to be inappropriate before complaints were received, a spokeswoman said last night. Consequently the report did not run on subsequent bulletins and was taken down from the RTÉ website, she said.
RTE has asked satirist Oliver Callan, of Nob Nation, to "go easy" on the Taoiseach stating that his increasingly controversial portrayal of Brian Cowen as a drunken buffoon "might be perceived to be a bit personal at this stage".
... Supporters of Mr Cowen are known to be upset at the Nob Nation portrayal of him as a hard-drinking and sometimes crude politician surrounded by Cabinet members who are also frequently portrayed in a similar manner.
Rumours which, by the way, are confirmed by the patrons of Doheny and Nesbitt's pub near Government buildings. Oh and by the way, the Government most certainly did not request that RTE censor Nob Nation. I'm sure they're insulted and appalled at the very suggestion. Yeah just like that time Conor Lenihan "assured" me that no one got a particular position through the old boys network. It's time to quote Hamlet, methinks.
So RTE apologies and proceeds to censor "in the national interest". The managers of Ireland Inc. throw their weight around like a pack of rapid rhinos, crushing freedom of the press in the process. Then the gardaí were ordered to the offices of Today FM with the dubious demand for emails and the artist information. “The powers that be want action taken”, Will Hanafin, was told.
Mr Hanafin told The Irish Times he was “totally shocked” to be confronted by a garda. He said in “no circumstances could this be considered an appropriate use of Garda resources. It seems to me that the powers that be have lost their sense of humour.”
Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan criticised the Garda move. “At a time when the majority of gangland murders remain unsolved, to have gardaí spending their time investigating what amounted to a practical joke that offended the Taoiseach’s ego is a scandalous waste of resources,” he said.
“Today FM has clearly come under pressure to hand over e-mails about this matter, while RTÉ News has obviously been browbeaten into a grovelling apology. The way this matter has been handled is more reminiscent of Russia in the 1930s than Ireland in 2009,” said Mr Flanagan.
Wouldn't the gardaí be better served arresting the bankers, property developers and other criminals rather than persecuting an artist? Are we returning to the normalisation of a stagnant culture where books like "Brave New World" and "Gulliver's Travels" are banned? Are we regressing to the time when the powers that be decided that "Natural Born Killers" or "Clockwork Orange" was too corrupting for the Irish people.
Censorship is the enemy of democracy and with democracy, as with many other system, what is most important is the behaviour during the tough times, the bad times and the ugly times. That RTE is cravenly bowing to the government during this recession is a very bad omen for the future of democracy in this country.
Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are being stifled in this country. What the hell happened to our human rights? What the hell happened to this country where the Dear Leader is covering his government's ass at the expense of the people; where "I didn't read that part of the report" is an acceptable reply to accusations of incompetence; where a bank is nationalised to save one interest group and the Minister for Finance does not even report the report; and where artists are persecuted on trumped up charges?
I call for a general election now. I don't want to wait until Brian "I didn't read the report" Lenihan submits his third budget of the year. Third? Ridiculous doesn't even begin to cover it.
Among the measures included in an options paper prepared for Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin on ways of tightening eligibility for welfare schemes are:
- Means-testing payments for dependants of recipients of social insurance-based payments, such as the job seeker’s benefit, carer’s benefit and State contributory pension;
- Abolishing the entitlement to two social welfare payments at the same time, eg lone parent’s allowance, the half-rate carer’s allowance and widow/widower’s payments
- Abolishing or reducing additional allowances, such as the “living alone allowance”, paid to older people on social welfare;
- Axing the universal entitlement of over-70s to household benefits such as a free TV licence; telephone allowances; electricity allowances;
- Reducing payments such as fuel allowance and household benefits such as electricity and gas benefits.
Cos slashing the payments of vunerable people is what this government does best. Out, vile jelly! Where is thy lustre now?
Two days later, the Government announced it wouldn't put €1.5bn into Anglo. It would instead nationalise the bank, at even greater potential cost to the taxpayer.
Why? Because Anglo is the country's "third-biggest bank". Well, it's not.
Yes, in money terms it's huge. But Anglo isn't a high street bank. It's a casino within which rich people -- speculators, developers, builders -- gambled on the property bubble.
Yes, it's huge in money terms, but not because it's embedded in the Irish economy -- only because it borrowed and loaned to reckless extremes, for gambling purposes.
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
No Irish citizen has any interest in Lenihan's great gamble failing, but the unknown, unknowns make the chances of failure extremely high. If we don't know how much the bad debts will be how can we, with any certainty, say that the €7bn figure will be enough?
Everybody knows that the war is over
Mr Kenny instanced the case of a public servant on €15,000 who would have a net reduction in take-home pay of €450, a decline of 3 per cent. Somebody on €19,500 would have a net reduction of €105 because he or she paid 0.5 per cent due to the taxation system.
A single public servant earning €36,400 would have pay reduced by €1,769, while another single person on €40,000 would suffer a reduction of €1,649. A married person earning €45,400 would have take-home pay reduced by €2,537, but somebody earning €55,000 would have €2,403 deducted. “These are clearly anomalous situations,” said Mr Kenny.
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Flare ups in the Dail today as Labour staged a walkout over questions to Brian Lenihan on the recapitalisation package
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
He chose this morning to announce that he was closing the classrooms of over 500 special needs children
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
people expressing anger at how the bankers, builders, stockbrokers etc who got us into this mess were getting away Scot free. There is an expectation at the few dozen people who contributed greatly to the rapid descent in our economy must pay the price.
That's how it goes
All over the world, governments are being destabilised by the consequences of dealing with the economic trauma. As jobs are lost and incomes cut, disgruntled workers are taking to the streets to vent their anger. The years of plenty are over.
Everybody knows
HE might not be able to bring himself to say sorry to the people of Ireland, or even to his former shareholders, but Sean FitzPatrick will one day admit that he was wrong.
That's what millionaire businessman Ben Dunne believes the former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank will have to do if he is to overcome his "addiction to money".
The circular mechanism used to transfer the temporary deposit enabled Anglo Irish to categorise the money as a customer deposit, enabling the bank to prop up its deposit levels and disguise the dramatic levels of withdrawals suffered by the bank during the unprecedented financial upheaval last September.
Everybody got this broken feeling
No-one has any cash and companies without cash-flow are going bust. This week alone three friends of mine told me they are going out of business.
Like their father or their dog just died
Deflation takes hold and it causes people and companies to go bankrupt which leads to the banking system imploding and the economy moves into a depression. As people feel that deflation is around the corner, they put off spending until the future when they feel they will get a lower price.
The owners said last night it will continue in business under direction of the liquidator, with no loss of the 40 full- and part-time staff jobs. “The existing management and staff will continue with the Sandhouse and it will remain open for business as usual.” The hotel, closed for the winter, reopens on St Valentine’s weekend.
And a long stem rose
Public sector unions have given notice that they intend to stage a day of action next Saturday, St Valentine’s Day, demonstrating at TDs’ offices. It will be followed by other demonstrations. There will be bells, whistles, drums and speeches vowing to fight the pension levy to the end.
Everybody knows
Unlike the previous recession in Ireland, this time there is little point emigrating as other countries such as the UK and the US are also experiencing jobs crises.
Dermot Ahern, the man who's indifferent to the torture of young girls, had the rank hypocrisy to say on Prime Time tonight that everyone in Ireland must take responsibility for the economic shitstorm together and that the government doesn't bear any responsibility.
That's fucking unbelievable. This government has been in power since 97. They carved up the country, drove prices up and rode the property boom to its death rattle.
If Dermot Ahern really believes that the government with its system of cronyism and nepotism does not bear responsibility for the current crisis he should be fired. He is obviously incapable of understanding the situation.
Can we please have a new finance minister now? Lenihan seems to have lost the plot. According to him the economy is thriving.
Ireland "has a thriving economy", and it would be wrong to compare the country's economic situation with that of Iceland's, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has said. "The Irish economy has headed into the current recession in a very strong shape. We doubled our workforce in the last 20 years and we have very low public debt, but like economies throughout the world we're under a severe challenge . . . and we have to take firm decisions as a Government to control our fiscal position," he said.
Oh well that's grand so. I'll just run out and tell the car sales people that a 68% decline in sales compared to last year in normal in a thriving economy. Economists saying that house prices may fall up to 80% demonstrates a thriving economy! Businesses closing down and tens of thousands of new dwellings unsold really convince me Brian that we have a thriving economy!
Yanno it takes more than bailing out the property developers / FF contributors and nationalising a bank to shore up the economy. I think a logical thinking person might in fact believe that nationalising a bank and taking on its debt, so certain favoured citizens get to walk away from their criminal decisions, is a clear sign that the economy is not thriving.
As for the very low public debt, we owe the same amount of money as we did in the 80s. The different is that now it's private debt which ballooned up because of 120% mortgages, people getting mortgages they can't afford and bloody property developers sucking the lifeblood and cultural heritage from the country's bones. Nothing was sacred. People are defaulting on their loans and being evicted and you, you who bailed out those vampires, have the temerity to claim that the economy is thriving. It's a load of baldfaced lies and a slap in the face to the public.
We can all look to the US and cluck our tongues at the bailout there as socialism for the rich but you Brian, have made it a reality in Ireland too. Citizens are losing their homes and you bailout wealthy property developers and have the citizen foot the bill. I wonder if criminal charges could be brought
"There's been an alarming growth in our public borrowing this year, and the Government is determined to check that and take whatever corrective decisions are required.
Am I the only one who sees the cognitive dissonance here? The government is the entity that borrows money. Therefore dear Brian, you have to curb your own spending and the spending of your party. Perhaps you think it sounds tough to speak out against public borrowing but you are the person who borrowed - you and Cowen! Do you think the citizens of Ireland are fools or do you just not care?
In a wide-ranging interview on the state of the country's economy, Mr Lenihan rejected suggestions that Fianna Fáil's policies were to blame for the crisis.
Ok Brian then what is to blame for the crisis? You don't get to blame the Americans either. Fianna Fail [sic] have been in power since 1997. Creevy, Cowen and yourself have (mis)managed the country's finances. Take responsibility for the actions and inactions of your party and government. Don't try and brazen it out. Fianna Fail [sic] has been robbing this country for decades. The least you can do is take responsibility. Otherwise how can the people of Ireland have any confidence in your blundering in the future.
Ah yes, the thievery and corruption is exposed. The former chairman Seán FitzPatrick transferred the bulk of €87 million of loans/debts to another bank each year while the auditors were doing their job. After they had finished and given Anglo the ok, back the loans would flow.
The upshot of this is that instead of injecting €1.5 billion to save Anglo, the government is turning red. Why they have suddenly departed from the save-our-crony with a bailout is unclear especially with prominent economists arguing in its favour.
A paper by TCD economist Patrick Honohan on the banking crisis argued that capital injections in the banks were a prerequisite for recovery. The financial regulator needed to decide now which banks had systemic importance to the economy – in other words, are “too big to fail”, and which are “zombie” banks.
Luckily, Taoiseach Cowen is off in Japan begging the Japanese to import Irish beef to boost the economy and doesn't have to listen to those pesky reporters asking awkward questions. How very convenient.
Madam, – Brian Cowen says it will be “business as usual” at Anglo Irish Bank. Surely he can’t mean this literally? – Yours, etc,
AIDAN FEIGHERY, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Madam, – Now that you and I are part-owners of Anglo Irish Bank, I wonder if you could let me know which is the appropriate Government Department to approach for a no-strings-attached, interest-free and fully concealable loan of approximately €87 million? – Yours, etc,
JONATHAN SHANKEY, Lally Road, Dublin 10.
Madam, – I note, in the light of the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank, that the Minister for Finance, as 100 per cent shareholder, is now the sponsor of the forthcoming Anglo Irish Bank Supreme Novices Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival 2009.
The festival is usually seen as leisure time for the hard-pressed financial and construction sector, but given the reality of Minster Lenihan’s call for patriotic action, should this sponsorship not now be cancelled? Is is appropriate for a state company in the light of the wider economic reality? Listed runners for the race include Honest John, Endless Intrigue, Do Less Than Me, Conflict of Interest and Touch of Irish. – Yours, etc,
Cllr JOE RYAN, Cromwellsfort Drive, Wexford Town.
Madam, – If Bertie the socialist was still Taoiseach, wouldn’t all the banks be nationalised at this stage? – Yours, etc,
Dr JACK McGINLEY, Pearse Street, Dublin 2.
Madam, – The State now owns Anglo-Irish Bank. Anglo-Irish Bank owns land and property which are held as security for loans that may never be repaid. Is there now any good reason we should continue to have a social housing waiting list or people homeless (both of which have doubled during the Celtic Tiger years)? – Yours, etc,
Fr PETER McVERRY SJ, Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, Upper Sherrard St, Dublin 1.
I'm going to drop in to my local branch for my daily coffee from now on. After all, a nationalised bank belongs to all the people. Perhaps I'll help myself to a stapler or two while I'm at it.
