National Public Service Alliance Meeting To Discuss Cuts

by Blazes Boylan Wed Nov 24, 2010 20:57

For all the heartache here, it didn't work, and government bonds are (notionally) back up to 8.89% this evening. This journalist Robert Preston broke the whole crash story back in 2007:

"Bond markets have given a massive thumbs down to the Irish National Recovery Plan, which rather implies that investors don’t think it’s deliverable in Ireland’s traumatic political climate.

The yield on the Irish 10-year bond has risen to 8.89% – yikes, back to record levels.

As for strike-riven Portugal, whose banks (like Ireland’s) are excessively dependent on central bank support (to the tune of more than 8% of their liabilities, on my estimates), its 10-year government bonds are yielding 7%.

Meanwhile the yield on the Spanish 10-year has crept over 5%, for the first time since 2002.

When benchmark bond yields rise in this way, there’s a knock-on to the funding costs of banks: it becomes more expensive for banks to borrow.

So to return to my boring refrain of late, this little local Irish difficulty still has the potential to wreak havoc across the eurozone and beyond."

by paula gilligan - TUI member Fri Nov 26, 2010 10:42

Subject: Call to action: Saturday 12 noon Wood Quay - Citzens Protest (not an ICTU Protest) against IMF/EU bullying Ireland into bailing out the Euro

Fellow Citizens,

This Saturday at 12 noon, starting at Wood Quay in Dublin, Citizens of Ireland will gather to protest and march to the GPO against the selling of Irish Sovereignty, against the harshest budget since the foundation of the State due on 7 December, against a Government which has brought this Country and the future of our children to the brink of an abyss.

The protest is organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) - URL to route map below. If, like me, you view ICTU with more than a jaundiced eye, you might be inclined to pass this one up. However, the issue is much, much bigger than ICTU. They are small fry in this. What is at stake is the future of our Country - the future of our young school children and our prospective and present Third-Level Students, the health and well-being of our sick and elderly, the quality of life of all citizens - regardless of whether they be classified as children, teenagers, students, public-sector or private-sector workers, unemployed or retired.

I outline, below, my reasons why I believe it is absolutely imperative that as many people as possible protest in Dublin on Saturday (Wood Quay, 12 noon), in what we should call a "citizens march", not an ICTU march. If you agree with me, perhaps you could pass this e-mail on to your friends and family and encourage them to attend along with yourself on Saturday. Here are some of my reasons:

We have a situation where the Irish Government is willingly acceding to being bullied into taking on additional massive loans on behalf of the Irish Public, in order to re-capitalise (i.e. bail out) our banks (yet again!). These banks will, in turn, pay the monies back to the European banks who are doing the bullying! This is being portrayed as bailing out Ireland. But, it is not! It is bailing out the Euro. Germany's Finance Minister, as reported on the RTE website, has said said as much:

"Germany's finance minister has said the fate of the shared European currency was at stake in the proposed bailout of Ireland. Speaking in the German parliament, Wolfgang Schaeuble said: 'It's our common currency that's at stake.' Mr Schaeuble said Germany must take responsibility 'otherwise there will be untold economic and social consequences for our country'."

See: http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1123/economy.html

This means that we, as a Country, should absolutely resist the IMF/EU so-called bailout -- at the very least, we should be dictating the terms for saving their skins, because they want us to take on these loans to save them having to pay instead. If we refuse, then the German and French Banks which recklessly lent the money to recklessly-lending Irish Banks, and the German and the French Governments will have to cough up instead - since it's a "common currency that's at stake", as Wolfgang Schaeuble has said, then the payment to solve it should come from all members of the Euro, and most importantly, from those who caused the problem. It should not simply be solved by burdening Ireland with a loan at penal interest rates and with austerity conditions attached, which will destroy the future of this nation. In other words, we must 'encourage' Mr. Schaeuble's Government and the others mentioned above to "take responsibility", as he puts it.

The issue for Saturday (Wood Quay, 12 noon) is to have a protest so large and strong, plus further follow-up protests and actions, that force the Government to hold an immediate election AND which also sends a message to a new Government in-waiting that they will be on the receiving end of the same massive protest and civil disobedience if they refuse to act in the interests of the Irish People but instead kow-tow to the "markets" which are only care about making a quick buck.

In my mind, staying at home is not an option.

Route Map:

http://www.ictu.ie/november27/routemap.html

With regards,

Kevin.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Fri Nov 26, 2010 13:54

...of your agenda.

Move point 4 to the top of the list. Solidarity is required, not more fucking nominal 'inclusiveness'. The way its asembled your list smacks of more 'we're all in it together', 'we share the general pain', 'no blame game', 'we all partied' shite the FFers are pumping.

Come to think lof it, it you were capable of tackling the moral bankruptcy at the root of our still warming up 'troubles' you might have mentioned the glaring crime of proposals to bulldoze housing estates to revive the sacred market even as homelessness grows.

Or else allow us all join our public service and have the priveledge of its security. The public service are not devoid of responsibility for the current shit dumped on the disempowered and excluded.

I have gone to some trouble in the past to march against public service cuts. But if ye dont start showing a little fucking genuine solidarity you will find that too is a game of diminishing returns. We are not YOUR lobby fodder.

by cathie Sat Nov 27, 2010 14:22

i don't think a general election will change a damn thing.

and my mam is a public servant. absolutely nothing about her position is privileged. she is hand to mouth like everyone else.

by hubris Sat Nov 27, 2010 14:59

Yes there are problems with high-paid civil-servants, I'm not denying it - but it's feckin small potatoes compared to the REAL issues - deal with the major problems first THEN move onto the minor ones - remember - TROUSERS First - THEN shoes!

Taking your eye off the ball at a time like this is fatal - do not allow yourselves to be distracted by Media/regressive-hypocrite-Generated witch-hunts.

The Media are the mouthpieces of the Banking and Political classes - all they ever do is repeat the message the are told to disseminate - they keep a few guys like Fintan O'Toole and Gene Kerrigan around to give the appearance of objectivity and even-handedness, but if you go back and look at how they have reported events over the past 2 years you can see that all they were doing was repeating Gov't Spin.

This time last year there was a witch-hunt organised by the Political and Banking classes against the low-paid civil-servants (Teachers), in order to distract the foolish electorate from the Criminal Bailout of the banks and the rampant criminality of the Banking-Property Speculating classes in general. The media all marched in Lock-step behind them writing crap about how teachers and their benefits, for a very hard job btw, are what's causing the ruin - pure nonsense - and the majority of the idiotic Irish Electorate allowed themselves to be fooled AGAIN - how many times is that now?

The current agenda to drive down the minimum wage is more evidence of this rush to keep the citizens subjugated because I for one will never be convinced that the min wage of €8.65 per hour threatened our balance of payments. But by reducing peoples ability to save means it will increase their need to borrow to make up for the shortfall in the standard of living. I can assure you if you are unfortunate enough to have to live on the now 7.65/hr, it could mean the difference between going hungry or not before the next pay check. - and once again the Financial/Banking and Property Speculating classes are using this as a distraction from the real problem - the mountain of their debt which they have ordered their Political servants (Theirs NOT ours) to pile onto our shoulders.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Tue Nov 30, 2010 14:13

you are exceeding the limits.

I would like you to elaborate as to why you equate Media/regressive hypocrite.

Also how exactly I am generating a witch hunt?
I questioned your priorities, not your right to pursue your interests as you percieve them. My previous reply was dropped(perhaps I over-reacted).
I trust if this is subtracted that your ad hominem comment and presumptive disinformation, which borders on libel, will get the same guillotine.

Ta.