Bankers’ greed - We are at the line in the sand

NO matter how, despite the greatest economic collapse in the history of the State, individuals try to be positive, another skeleton topples from the Celtic tiger’s wardrobe to knock us back on our heels.

No matter how determined each of us is to push ahead, to be optimistic, the tentacles of failure grab us by the throat reminding us of the awful greed that has brought us to this abject, subservient point.

And what a tragedy it is that to be Irish today means it is almost impossible not to be angry. It is almost impossible not to be outraged when you consider the sheer greed and brass neck of those in the financial services sector so determined — still — to feather their own nests at everyone else’s expense.

The latest manifestation of this toxin eating at the heart of this society is the news that AIB executives expect to be paid €40 million in bonuses before Christmas. Remember, this is one of the banks that lied when it was looking for a guarantee in September 2008, lied to NAMA about the value of its loans, lent money to people it knew could not repay it and destroyed the life savings of so many people when its share price collapsed. Bonuses?

The bonuses are worth €16,700 each to the individuals involved. This is almost twice what anyone working on the new minimum wage can expect to earn in a year. Bonuses for the people who turned a great institution into a zombie bank utterly dependent on a State bled dry by the rogue bankers?

It really is time to draw the line in the sand and stand up for ourselves, this battered country and the kind of society we want this to be for our children. There is no point in beating around the bush, no point in shadow boxing. This money must not, despite court rulings or contracts, be paid to this delinquent bank or its staff. Those contracts must be treated with the same disdain the bankers showed for the principles of prudence and business ethics that would have saved this economy.

If our Government can’t ensure the bonuses are not paid they are even worse than we imagined. If they, despite owning the banks on our behalf, can’t stop this what are they for? What use are they?

All through this crisis bank workers have got wage increases that have gone a long way towards insulating them from the tax increases imposed on everyone in this country to pay for their recklessness.

Though we have been mocked for being so very easily cowed, for being so very servile in the face of scandal after scandal, surely we’re not going to roll over on this one? For the last two years the air has been thick with politicians congratulating themselves for taking hard decisions as if they were cleaning up someone’s else’s mess. In the scale of things this is an easy decision. Just say no, you’re not getting the money. If our Government don’t do that we will be a step closer to chaos and anarchy and we will deserve to be treated like the fools the banks obviously take us for.

Over to you Mr Cowen, over to you Mr Lenihan and if you won’t stand up for the rest of us just get out of the way and let someone else do what is so obviously, so plainly the right thing.