Call to stand up to EU and IMF 'bullies'

PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT: THE NOTION that the European Union or International Monetary Fund have the solutions to the State’s economic…

PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT:THE NOTION that the European Union or International Monetary Fund have the solutions to the State's economic crisis is badly misplaced, the People Before Profit Alliance has said.

The left-wing group said the Government was on the brink of “sacrificing the last semblance of Irish democracy and economic wellbeing”, and called on the public to stand up to the “bullies” arriving from the EU and IMF. “These bodies are the champions of the ‘free’ market madness that was embraced so enthusiastically by the Irish Government over the last decade and a half, and which got us into the dire situation we now face,” said Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit.

The Debt and Development Coalition Ireland said it was misleading to suggest the IMF promoted tough love, as its policies had previously failed impoverished people around the world.

Sinn Féin vice-president Mary Lou McDonald said that, having already destroyed the economy, the Government was now putting the State “at the mercy of foreign interests . . . These officials from the EU and IMF and any other vultures circling around this country should be told to get lost.”

Steven Carroll

Steven Carroll

Steven Carroll is an Assistant News Editor with The Irish Times