Return to current edition
Monday, July 27, 2009
IN explaining the wide-ranging cuts outlined in his Bord Snip report, Colm McCarthy stressed that the country was borrowing €400m a week.
That is €20bn a year, or as one article recently claimed, €1,800 a second. Unless the Government makes severe cutbacks across all sectors and services, the country could face bankruptcy if international investors refuse us credit in the coming months.
The McCarthy report brought home the sheer scale of the problem we face and also how dependent we are on the international community’s support.
If we were to lose that support it could have disastrous consequences for Ireland.
This country needs to vote Yes in the Lisbon Treaty referendum on October 2 not only to ensure vital funds for Ireland, but to ensure the EU’s 27 member states can act more effectively in handling the global financial crisis.
John Bruton recently said: "In the 21st century world, no nation is an island. No matter how big it is, a modern nation is buffeted by global storms".
The current financial crisis is one in which we cannot afford to go alone.
Emma Brennan
Kilmacnanny
Strokestown
Co Roscommon
© Examiner Publications (Cork) Limited, City Quarter, Lapps Quay, Cork. Registered in Ireland: 73385.