Greece’s debt difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity — but we must plan now

THE countdown has begun. It is a matter of when, not if, the Greek government and creditors will have to reconcile a 50% default on their sovereign debt.

With total loans of €353 billion, their national output of €200bn cannot sustain repayments. More liquidity won’t resolve underlying insolvency. Even if an interim €8bn is sanctioned in coming days, it only postpones the inevitable. IMF, World Bank, G20, US Treasury, markets and now European leaders have begun to drop denial and start planning for fallout on the euro and global economy. Ireland should rethink it's own strategy.

The Green Jersey Brigade still maintain a delusionary stance that this is unthinkable. Official Consensus Comrades, who faithfully promised us “soft landings” and “no bailout”, assure us that in the worst eventuality of contagion, we are unaffected. Their constant communication strategy is to highlight we are the best boy in the bailout class and best German in the group of PIIGS. They trumpeted most recent quarterly CSO growth statistics as confirmation of economic progress, despite previous accuracy warnings of subsequent adjustment in annualised returns and poor July industrial figures.