Ireland has turned the corner, says Barroso as he receives honourary doctorate

Ireland has turned the corner on the economic crisis and is playing a key role in EU-wide recovery, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso declared last night.

In a dramatic departure from his stinging critique last December of Ireland’s economic collapse and its damaging effects on the eurozone, the outgoing president praised Irish resilience and said the country has been to the forefront in supporting structural reforms to assist vulnerable EU states emerge from recession.

“I admire and respect the courage and resilience of the Irish people.

“Families have made big sacrifices. But Ireland has shown it can be done,” he said in a keynote address at University College Cork where he received an honorary doctorate in law.

This is his second visit to the college. In 2008, he addressed students on the benefits of the Lisbon treaty to European integration and enlargement.

His presence this time drew the wrath of around 100 protesters who circled the main quadrangle in the college, chanting and holding aloft a variety of anti-austerity placards.

But it drew the praise of UCC president Michael Murphy, who acknowledged the extent of EU funding for Irish universities, along with Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, who described the commission as “the friend of small member states”

Mr Barroso’s address focused on EU economic reform and the changes needed to secure the euro.

“We learned that growth fuelled by debt is artificial and unsustainable,” he told the packed attendance in the college’s Aula Maxima. “We saw that a common currency has to be backed up by strong co-ordination of economic and budgetary policies if it is to survive.”

Mr Barroso said Ireland has returned to “normal” in EU terms and that he expects it to use its influence in Europe to help shape the right policies for the post-crisis era.

“The European Commission will continue to stand by Ireland now that you have exited the (bailout) programme.”

However, hopes that Mr Barroso would support Government efforts to get backdated funding for the banking sector were dashed when he spoke about reforms that would limit the vulnerability of taxpayers to banking crises in the years ahead.

“The taxpayer will not be called upon in future to bail out banks that get into difficulty,” he said.

Mr Gilmore must have been most disappointed of all the guests as, in his address, he underlined the urgency of the EU’s work to sustain economic recovery, increase employment and ensure stability in the eurozone.

The Tánaiste pointed to direct bank recapitalisation as a key priority, remarking that this was “unfinished business for Ireland.”

Mr Barroso described 2013 as a good year for Ireland. “First of all a great presidency of the council, which was universally admired for its professionalism and effectiveness. And then a successful exit from the economic assistance programme.

“Economic growth has returned. In 2011 to 2013 Ireland grew faster than the euro area as a whole. We predict that Ireland’s GDP will increase by 1.8% in 2014 and by 2.9% in 2015. There has been a significant decline in unemployment; although 12% is still too high, there has been a sharp fall from the peak of 15% in 2012. Private households have saved more and are less indebted, and house prices have started to recover.”

Mr Barroso also insisted the European Commission is a “friend of Ireland” and that the economic policies pursued since the financial crisis have been the correct ones.

That is the kind of talk that has enraged anti-austerity groups.

Ireland South MEP Phil Prendergast described him as a “champion of the austerity agenda”, a view echoed by the Anti Austerity Alliance, who said Mr Barroso is one of the key architects of the austerity programmes.

Its spokeswoman Marion O’Sullivan said: “He should be given the red card, not an honorary doctorate.”