Humiliation of a sovereign nation

“IRELAND’s sovereignty depends on the nation’s biggest banks” was the headline in one international news wire yesterday.

After an explanation that “the ruling Fianna Fáil party grew out of the armed movement that opposed the treaty with Britain dividing Ireland in the 1920s” was the humiliating tale of how the party is poised to hand back some of that hard-won independence in exchange for money to help solve the country’s ugly banking system.

When Finance Minister Brian Lenihan meets with his European counterparts today he will make a last-gasp attempt to stave off any bailout from a combined EU and IMF emergency fund.