We cannot survive Anglo bailout debacle

THE bailout of Anglo Irish Bank continues to rankle more than any other single factor in our list of grievances with the current government.

The sense that this bailout was unnecessary, impossibly onerous and only makes sense in the context of a golden circle which included the government protecting their own interests is one that persists. Recent revelations of Brian Cowen and Sean Fitzpatrick sharing a round of golf and dinner only deepen suspicions.

Would it not be appropriate now to ask that the list of bondholders for whom the taxpayer in this country is carrying the tab be disclosed? Why should we bail out anonymous investors who ought to have known they were investing in a risky venture in a private bank that had nothing to do with Ireland Inc?

The fact that Iceland, who took a different course and left their equivalent of Anglo (Landesbank) go under, is now on the road to economic recovery and has no more difficulty raising credit than Ireland is further proof, if such is needed anymore, that our government took a disastrous and inexplicable course.

The other important thing of course is that, if it can be established that Anglo was not after all of “systemic” importance, then, perhaps, a future government might deem invalid the decision to nationalise it.

In any case, it is becoming more and more clear that a country of our size cannot absorb so colossal a debt and survive economically.

Margaret Hickey

Blarney

Co Cork