Kelleher does his best to stand up for Maiden Éire

MISMATCHED spats always end in pain. Only in Hollywood does the little guy walk away with his legs, not to mind a world title.

Fianna Fáil Minister for Trade and Commerce Billy Kelleher versus Dan O’Brien, senior Europe editor and economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit, the London-based business analysis magazine. Ouch! Wee Rocky standing up to Gargantuan Realism in defence of the economic virtue of Maiden Éire. Here’s a blow-by-blow account.

Billy Kelleher said: “The remarks made by Dan O’Brien are very damaging to our country and what we are trying to achieve as a government.

“They are way off the wall. For a man who works for the intelligence unit they are not very intelligent and they do not reflect a true picture of what is happening to the economy in this country and I am outraged by them.”

Dan O’Brien said: “The chances of Ireland going bankrupt now stand at about 25% as opposed to 15% a year ago. There is a clear and present danger of a number of countries, including Ireland, following the same route as Greece. It’s a ballpark figure of about 25% of this country not being able to borrow.”

The economist views Ireland as being in similar danger to Portugal due to Ireland’s deficit being the highest among the 27 EU countries. He also referred to the “gargantuan” nature of the Irish banking crisis, and said the country has a long way to go to regain its international credibility.

O’Brien said, had Ireland not joined the eurozone, it would already have ended up in the same mess as Iceland. It is worth noting that O’Brien praised the self-imposed fiscal tightening of Ireland, Latvia and others.

But, should the eurozone crash, which is looking increasingly likely, such fiscal hair-shirting will be of little import, he concluded.

In reply, the minister cited economic indicators which point to year-on-year improvements in Ireland. Unemployment has stabilised at 13.4%, consumer confidence is at 65.6%, new car sales are up 95%, while the National Treasury Management Agency has raised 70% of its €20 billion funding target for the full year.

Likely eurozone collapse vs Irish grit. Sadly, no contest.