Deal does nothing to address our insolvency

So now we know — it’s Frankfurt’s way, all the way.

One can only wonder what was going through the minds of the Labour Party ministers as they signed off on the deal that irrevocably linked the Anglo debt to the State. Was it the words of Collins on his signing the Anglo Irish treaty, in a political sense? Or was it the words of Mr Rabbitte on the distinction between electioneering and governing? Or was it simply thanks that there was a deal, any deal, that didn’t require a payment on March 31?

In any sense, we now have the full foul flower of the 2008 banking deal. Having sunk €30+ billion of cold hard cash into the wreck of the banks, we have now sunk a further €30bn of taxpayers cash into an arguably worse deal, paying for the folly of the guarantee to the Anglo subordinated bondholders.