Give the government a break on economy

In response to the letter of Catriona McClean (Sept 12) , she is correct on one thing.

Fianna Fáil certainly ‘fought and lost’ and boy are we paying the price for it. The resultant bailout means we are technically bankrupt, with all of the implications that has for many years to come. We are dependent on outside funding and have very little negotiating power.

How anyone thinks that a country in our position can dictate the terms to the ECB/IMF is mind boggling.

The only factor that is helping us is that we are ‘compliant’, and as we have seen in recent weeks, this is leading to a reduction in borrowing costs for Ireland and an increase in positive sentiment towards the country by outside investors. Proof indeed, though the medicine is hard to swallow, it is slowly working. Give the government a break. The mess they inherited cannot be fixed in the short term.

Siobhan McCarthy

Model Farm Road

Cork