President Higgins in Strasbourg - An argument for a debt forum

SPEAKING to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg yesterday President Michael D Higgins touched on many issues but none more pertinent than how sovereign states regain control of the economic forces that shape our lives.

Describing this as one of the great challenges for modern democracies Mr Higgins argued that “parliaments, both at national and European level, must urgently claim back competence and legitimacy on economic and fiscal matters”.

The years since 2007 have underlined how powerless much of national financial regulation is. The people of Europe, especially Greece, may be about to discover how feeble a national government is in the face of all- powerful financial forces.

Our banking inquiry, long-awaited and overburdened, may contribute to that narrative too.

Mr Higgins pointed to national governments’ inability, individually or collectively, to stand between citizens and the relentless forces of unfettered, uncaring capitalism and the consequences of that unbalanced relationship.

He warned against inflexible, stock responses to economic catastrophe and suggested if democracy is to be served, in name and spirit, a more humane approach is needed.

In this context it is hard to argue against proposals for a European debt conference to review the ignominies of recent years. After all, only those with untenable arguments or who have done something wrong or foolish could object.