Burning bondholders would backfire on us

THE decision this week by the Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan, to put the amounts owed by the banks to bondholders into the public domain after his Prime Time interview the night before, has sent a clear signal to the incoming government — tread warily on trying to burn bondholders in the weeks ahead.

This view that the banks who lent us substantial sums should take a lot of the blame carries a certain appeal. Why should they not suffer the same as we are, given they were prepared to lend liberally to us.

As not a great lover of the bankers who indulged their greed at every opportunity, it is tempting to go along with that view.