Cancel ‘odious debt’

ONE of the senior bond holders on Ireland’s debt is the huge US financial company Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs will receive €4bn from the Irish taxpayer. Goldman Sachs just paid €10bn in bonuses to its employees. I would say that the bailout is now most definitely in the category of what is called in international law — “odious debt”. It does not bind the people of the country when the debt was clearly not incurred in the interests of the people of the country. We should now pursue every legal channel available to us to ensure that the debt is cancelled. Only then will we be free to get the country back on its feet.

Dick Barton