Seven Days

A glance at the week that was

Making up for lost time

Samoa plans to switch its clocks forward 24 hours, moving itself from one side of the international dateline to the other, in order to aid business with Australia and New Zealand.

By doing so, the country will lose a day – most likely December 30th, according to Samoa’s prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, meaning any residents with an occasion to celebrate on that date will have to make other plans, as it won’t exist on their calendars.

The numbers

37,000

The number of Irish farms classified as economically vulnerable, according to the Teagasc National Farm Survey.

830,000

The number of calls the ISPCC Childline service recorded in 2010, an increase of 20,000 from the previous year.

1,895

The number of death certificates between 2007 and 2009 that mentioned alcohol, according to the Central Statistics Office.

7,000

The approximate number of jobs lost in the bar trade last year, according to the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland.

$8.5bn

The price for which Microsoft agreed buy the internet telephone company Skype, making it its biggest deal to date.

41

The record number of new “legal highs” reported across Europe in 2010.

We now know

Arnold Schwarzeneggerand his wife , Maria Shriver, have separated after 25 years of marriage.

Ryan Tubridywill make his BBC debut on July 23rd, taking over Graham Norton's BBC Radio 2 show for eight weeks.

Road deathsin Ireland have halved over the past 10 years, according to the Garda and the Road Safety Authority.

Give me a crash course in . . . Greece (again)

Greece is in the news again. What's going on?Greece received a €110 billion bailout last year, Europe's first sovereign rescue. The plan, however, is failing. The combined pressures of a contracting economy and mounting debt have led to a drastic erosion of market confidence. This suggests the country will find it impossible to raise private borrowings next year as foreseen in the bailout.

Why is this important?Greece could run out of money next year. The bailout makes a full provision for its fiscal needs this year, but the country will need additional financing next year to repay existing debt and keep the lights on in Athens. The requirement may be for a sum between €25 billion and €30 billion, but exceptionally high bond yields show that Greece remains shut out from private-debt markets.

How could that be so?We were told the bailout would put the country on the road to recovery. That's true, but Greek tax revenues remain flat and a slowdown in the public sector means the country remains locked in a debt trap. The country's international sponsors are very displeased, but they are powerless to prevent intensified speculation that the country may default on its debt to regain control over its wayward public finances.

That sounds serious?It is. A secretive meeting of top finance ministers last Friday week in Luxembourg only added to the sense of drama. The ministers had to deny Greece was threatening to leave the euro zone, but there is no doubt the country's financial crisis is back with a vengeance.

What is to be done?The choice boils down to this: either the country receives more external aid or it tries to reduce its debt burden through restructuring. Each option presents serious difficulties. Any new bailout raises serious questions about the merits of adding to the country's mountainous debt. In this argument the accumulation of yet more debt is self-defeating. A further concern is political sensitivity about a new bailout in wealthy countries such as Germany and Finland, where this is deeply unpopular.

Why don't the Greeks default?Tricky. Two options are mentioned. The first is a "soft" voluntary restructuring under which the country's lenders voluntarily agree to extend the maturity of the debt and suspend interest payments. This may marginally reduce the debt burden, but the voluntary nature of the scheme may not achieve the desired impact. The second option is for a full default, with creditors forced into compulsory haircuts on their receivables.

The debt haircut: we've heard that one before, haven't we?This proposal bears striking similarity to the suggestions that senior bondholders in the Irish banks should take losses as part of the rescue. Dublin wanted to do that, but Europe said no. Similarly, high-ranking Europeans say they have already ruled out restructuring for Greece.

What does this mean for Ireland?Any effort by Athens to ease the burden of its public debt would create a precedent that may well be followed by Dublin, but there is little appetite in Europe for that. Academic debate has turned in favour of default, but political leaders are reluctant to test the theory that the damage can be minimised. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and her counterparts may stand accused of protecting their banks, but the sovereign debt crisis shows that the strong countries hold all the power.  Arthur Beesley

Most read this week on irishtimes.com

1 Ireland's future depends on breaking free from bailout

2 Howth faithful bemused at bin Laden memorial services

3 Tourist coach crashes in Dublin

4 Queen and Obama posters taken down

5 Wedding snub 'difficult' to cope with

6 Kelly's route out of economic crisis is itself a road to ruin

7 College president defends €100,000 spent on taxis

8 Welcome for queen age-old issue

9 Giggs never saw it coming

10 Gardaí outline State visit restrictions

Next week you'll need to know about . . . Queen Elizabeth

Ahead of Queen Elizabeth's visit to Ireland next week, here are some facts you may not know about her majesty.


It took 350 womenseven weeks to make her wedding dress, which had 10,000 seed pearls and was designed by Norman Hartnell.

Prince Edward,Earl of Wessex, is the only one of her four children not to have been divorced.

She is an Arsenal supporter,she revealed while meeting the team at a 2007 reception in Buckingham Palace.

The queen celebrates two birthdayseach year: the date she was born, April 21nd, and a state-recognised birthday on a Saturday in June.

She has sat for 139 official portraits.

She made her first public addressat the age of 14, on BBC Radio's The Children's Hour.

She has reared 30 Pembroke Welsh Corgisduring her reign. She currently has four: Linnet, Willow, Monty and Holly; as well as three Dorgis (a cross between a Dachshund and a Corgi): Cider, Candy and Vulcan.

She chatted for 10 minutes with Irishman Michael Faganwhen he sneaked into her bedroom in 1982, his second break-in at the palace.

The queen officially opens the British parliamentevery year and has done so since 1953, except in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with Andrew and Edward, respectively.