Ireland not bankrupted by overnight decision

John Bellew is wrong to say that “the country was brought to the brink of bankruptcy, in 2008, by a single decision taken on one particular autumn night” [Letters, March 15].

The austerity is a result of many decisions made by a small number of our most powerful citizens during the years of the boom.

The single decision taken on that particular autumn night was the result of those cumulative decisions made in the previous decade. Concentrating on what happened in the autumn of 2008 is just looking at consequences.