Ireland's bailout plan a 'bad deal' for UK

The British taxpayer should not “cough up” an estimated £7bn (€8.17bn) to help bail out the Irish economy, a leading think-tank said.

There was also opposition from Tory eurosceptic MPs, as Chancellor George Osborne prepared to spell out the extent of the UK’s obligation through its own loan to Dublin and as part of the EU and international package.

The Irish government confirmed last night it was seeking the bail-out funds and talks are under way to confirm details of the package negotiated with the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

Sam Bowman, head of research at the Adam Smith Institute, said: “The proposed bail-out for Ireland is a bad deal for the UK.

“It puts the interests of the European Union and the eurozone before the interests of Ireland and the British Government should have no part in paying for it.

“Asking the British taxpayer to cough up £7bn (€8.17bn) shows just how audacious the European Union has become in its desperation to keep the eurozone project afloat.

“The UK successfully avoided entering the eurozone. Ireland was not so lucky, but it entered in full knowledge of the risks involved.

“Bailing out Ireland now would undo much of the benefits that Britain has yielded from keeping the pound and would make a mockery of the spending cuts announced by the coalition last month.

“In the end Ireland will have to choose its own path out of this crisis. But the British taxpayer should not be held responsible for past mistakes by Irish politicians.”

Conservative MP for Clacton Douglas Carswell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We shouldn’t be paying to help keep Ireland in the euro.

“If we are going to pay to solve this crisis we should be helping to pay Ireland to quit the euro. Ireland’s misery is only going to end when it has its own currency again.

“At a time of austerity, again we are paying vast sums to the European Union.”