Colossal bailout

WHILE the pundits deliberate on whether, or not, Irish people have the capacity to cope with the staggering consequences of the bank bailout, it is relevant to point out that the scale of it now exceeds the GDP in 2010 of eight other member states of the EU.

It is more than double the 2010 GDP of Luxembourg. It is greater than the combined GDP in 2010 of Malta, Cyprus, Estonia and Latvia — four nations with a population that outstrips Ireland’s by 400,000 persons.

Myles Duffy