Sir, – So the news wires are reporting “turmoil” across European governments because the Greek people are to be consulted about whether or not they wish to submit to the financial and social strictures being placed upon them. Surprise, surprise.
As per Paul Doran’s letter (November 2nd), here is our chance as a people to demand our Government give us a referendum to consult us similarly.
Let’s contact all the public representatives with this request.
Let’s test our democracy! – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The Greek prime minister George Papandreou wishes his people to be given the chance to vote once and for all on a package of measures which will place Greece under the control of the Troika for the next 10 years and endure national humiliation. Is this not the least that can be expected under democracy?
Recently a war was fought in Libya by the European powers in order to rid the country of a dictator who denied his own people the right to choose their own destiny, yet across the Mediterranean the same European leaders are outraged that the Greeks be given the chance to choose theirs.
One could be forgiven for thinking that the war in Libya had nothing to do with democracy and the outrage is based on the insolvency of the Franco-German banking system should Greece decide to go its own way.
If the Greeks decide enough is enough and go back to the drachma then good luck to them. They may be poorer, but they will have their freedom.
As for Ireland, not a chance. We will keep our heads down and our mouths shut in order to pay debts that are not ours to people we did not borrow from; for such is the way of our leaders. Of course, if Europe were to collapse in the confusion, maybe we could escape and go back to the pound, where we can quantitatively ease our way out of it. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – While nobody ought to wish that we swap places with Greece, is it not odd that Greece gets to give the bondholders a massive “haircut” of 50 to 60 per cent while nice little Ireland is now hoping to pay in full? This despite Michael Noonan’s talk earlier this year of “burning” them – now forgotten.
The purpose of the current frantic meetings in the EU is to “avoid contamination”, ie, to shore up the Greek debt problem without it spreading to the banks of other EU states. Our Government is portrayed as valiantly avoiding “contamination” by its current rectitude. All this will fail.
I want to point out the ironies that commentators haven’t been highlighting: 1. There is already a toxic level of “contamination” in an Ireland that cuts away at things like health and education, raises taxes so as to injure enterprise. I don’t know what else it should be called. 2. While not endorsing riots, the direct response from the people seems to be a key difference between the approaches here and in Greece. 3. All the bondholders, as well as betting on bonds, have insured against their possible losses! I don’t hear a lot of commentary about where all this insurance is, and hence where the “contamination” ultimately ends up. That is, in a broken financial insurance system mostly centred in London – outside the euro zone, but bad for us, hence another irony. Undoubtedly even the Greek default will harm the British economy badly. What then?
There was a bailout here in Ireland: the people, including my children, bailed out the financial system to the tune of tens of thousands each. I am tired of hearing this reported as if we received a bailout. We gave it. We were not asked. We should protest. – Yours, etc,