Irish trade unions gear up for the 29th as Ireland goes deeper into debt trying to get out of debt! What a price to pay for bailing out the banks!
Irish MP's returning to parliament on Wednesday will be greeted by a rally of hundreds of trade unionists, as part of a Europe-wide protest against the policies of austerity. Two Irish postmen will hand out postcards detailing developments “while you were away” during the summer recess – highlighting the record number of 455,000 unemployed and the €25bn ($34bn) of taxpayers’ money pumped in to rescue the banks.
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But as Wednesday’s protest will underscore, the Fianna Fáil-led coalition government is struggling to avoid a popular backlash from ordinary workers, forced to endure “the age of austerity” while their taxes bail out banks and the bondholders who recklessly lent during Ireland’s property boom.
From the outset of the crisis, ministers have argued that Ireland must be seen to be addressing the budget deficit, or risk being pummelled by the debt markets. Yet after three brutal budgets, Ireland’s cost of borrowing is rising not falling – with spreads on Irish government bonds now at record highs of more than 4 per above benchmark German government debt.
David Begg, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions the organisers of Wednesday’s protest warns that Ireland faces “a lost decade” like Japan in the 1990s if the country pursues its deficit reduction programme. He argues that the cuts are holding back the economic recovery
