I predicted what happened yesterday in Brussels, in a letter I wrote to the Tallaght Echo last November!
Dear Sir/Madame
A lot of our Government ministers and backbench TD's are attempting to pull the wool over peoples eyes at an unprecedented level. They have taken stretching the limits and definitions of the English language to a level surpassing even that of James Joyce himself. I am talking particularly about the talks between the ECB/IMF and the government.
Michael Noonan, and our own TD for Dublin South West, Brian Hayes in particular, have been resolutely parroting the line that we WILL be getting a debt reduction deal, and that it WILL be very beneficial for Ireland in the long run; so people should bite their lips, accept what it thrown at them in the budget, as it will aide their job of guaranteeing a better path for this country to get it's way out of recession
But the simple truth is, they are lying to the people of this state on a grand scale. We will NOT be getting a "debt reduction deal, that will benefit this country in the long run". The very best we can hope for is a lengthening of the payment terms (I.E. in a way it's like extending the term of your mortgage from 25 to 30 years). Though the yearly repayments will come down per se, we will end up paying MORE than the country is at present, due to interest on the debt. We will merely be paying back the same amount as currently, plus more, but over a longer timeframe than is currently the case.
This debt is totally unsustainable, we cannot implement a full repayment schedule AND grow our economy out of recession at the same time. Burn the bondholders, and spend the money instead on essential things like, developing new college campuses, building much needed new schools and public transport systems, reopen closed hospital wards etc. Think of all the jobs this would create.
Ask yourself this - Why, if the government are so certain of getting a debt reduction deal, are they still planning to go full steam ahead with the savage austerity plan they have set out? Surely if we were definitely getting a debt reduction deal, the budget would be changed, and cuts and tax rises would be lowered to take account of this?
These have not been changed, as the Government knows damn well we will not not be getting a debt reduction deal, and that we the ordinary Irish taxpayer, is going to have to pay a bigger price in the long run, if they get their way, to ensure the greedy bondholders, and property developers continue to live in obscene luxury. This while many families cannot afford to provide 3 basic meals a day for their kids, as they go to bed freezing due to living in a substandard dwelling they paid way over the odds for.
I call on the Irish people to rise up off their armchairs, and start taking action! Take to the streets, refuse to pay property/water taxes, FORCE THIS GOVERNMENT TO BURN THE BONDHOLDERS ONCE AND FOR ALL! There is a budget day demonstration starting at 17.00, outside The Dail. I urge everyone to turn up and show the government just how angry we are with their policies.
Yours etc,
Sean Heffernan,
Dominic's Parish.
