Kenny’s ‘brazen’ bank deal talk ‘would make John Terry blush’

Micheál Martin has compared Enda Kenny to John Terry, the English footballer, for exaggerating his role in the EU bank debt agreement.

The Chelsea footballer famously appeared on the pitch to celebrate with his team after they had won the Champions League — even though he had not played in the match.

In the same vein, Mr Martin claimed Spain and Italy had primarily driven last week’s bank debt agreement, and that Mr Kenny had merely hopped on the bandwagon.

“The performance since Friday morning has been so brazen it would make John Terry blush,” said Mr Martin.

“Apparently the Taoiseach showed a masterful command of tactics by agreeing to move onto other business and not co-ordinating with the Spanish and Italian delegations,” Mr Martin told the Dáil.

“Spain got a definite deal in relation to bank recapitalisation and Italy one concerning sovereign bonds — Ireland got a discussion.”

While he acknowledged it was a “welcome discussion”, Mr Martin said much remained to be hammered out.

The agreement means the EU’s permanent bailout fund, the ESM, can be used to re-capitalise banks in EU states, with Spain set to be the first beneficiary.

Ireland has recapitalised its banks already, and EU leaders have agreed to revisit the situation here, meaning the agreement could be applied retrospectively. This could see a cut in Ireland’s borrowing costs but negotiations may take months.

Mr Kenny said that the agreement represented “significant progress” and reflected “the intensive efforts” made by the Government since coming to office.

“In our discussions, I made it very clear to colleagues that I could not accept a situation where Ireland would be penalised by having taken the steps necessary to secure its banks — both in the interests of our own economy, but also in the wider European interest,” he said.

Meanwhile, the troika have refused to reveal whether the latest EU deal on overhauling Ireland’s loans for banking debt would lead to a less painful budget.

Troika members yesterday met opposition TDs in Dublin during a seventh review of Ireland’s programme.

Some TDs said they were disappointed with the lack of answers about last week’s so-called EU “breakthrough debt deal” for Ireland.

People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett said: “The answers from the troika on the details of the so-called breakthrough on banking debt were pathetically and hopelessly vague.”

Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty claimed that the troika were “forceful” during discussions.

But Independent TD Stephen Donnelly said he was pleased with the talks. He said the troika had indicated decisions on taxes here were solely a matter for the Government.