Rebuilding Ireland - We must get new deal on bank debts

EUROPEAN history shows us many examples of countries destroying themselves to deny invaders the resources they needed to continue their aggression.

Russia did it in 1812, in what they called their Great Patriotic War, luring Napoleon far beyond the security of his supply lines ensuring his ultimate destruction.

Much more recently, in 1943, when Germany fled Russia, they destroyed everything they had not destroyed during their advance. The destruction and savagery was biblical in scale but it did not save the eastern half of Germany from a terrible, brutal, decades-long occupation. Nevertheless, Germany has rejuvenated itself morally and economically and is the cornerstone of the EU’s economic security today.