The bank we all bailed out had no ATM machines

A Leavy (Letters 10th March 2014) is partially correct when he says, “austerity is a result of decisions taken in this country during the years of the boom, which ended with national bankruptcy in 2010”.

He is right insofar as the government must take responsibility for boosting public sector pay to unsustainable levels during that period.

But in truth the country was brought to the brink of bankruptcy in 2010 by a single decision taken on one particular Autumn night, when all of the bank debt was guaranteed by the state.