Debt default not ruled out

THE leadership of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has warned that “in the face of austerity heaped on austerity”, the time may be approaching when it will advocate a default on the country’s debt to its 600,000 members.

Speaking at its biennial delegate conference in Killarney, outgoing ICTU president Jack O’Connor said while the trade union movement had not yet threatened default, “we may well come to do so and we are conscious that resources are being run down as time passes.

“However, we cannot anticipate the response of the ECB which could withdraw support from our covered banks,” he said. “Neither can we assume the way it would play with the global companies, including those in the financial services sector, upon which so many of our people depend for their livelihoods. We can be pretty certain it would mean balanced budgets overnight — which would be devastating for working people and all who depend on public services.”