Protesters urge new Finance Minister to act on cancellation of Third World debt

THE new Minister for Finance must lobby the World Bank for the cancellation of the entire Third World Debt, a group protesting for debt relief said yesterday.

Around 50 members of the Debt and Development Coalition gathered outside the gates of Leinster House in advance of yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen was later given the Finance portfolio.

Spokesman Eamon Stack said: “The new minister for finance is our representative at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. We want him to ask for 100% debt relief without any condition and without taking away the aid already available.