€85bn rescue package - Unwelcome return to penal times

TODAY is a grim reminder of one of the darkest eras of Irish history.

By inflicting an enormous financial burden on every household in the country, the €85 billion rescue deal for Ireland signals an unwelcome return of ‘the penal times’.

In place of the imperial ascendancy of the 17th century, however, modern penal laws will be enforced under an agreement forged between one of the most unpopular Governments since the foundation of the state, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the EU Commission.