Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said the country needs to “stand up” to the IMF and dismissed speculation there would be consequences if the State did not meet its obligations to the bailout loan.
"We need to stand up to the IMF-EU…they will respect us more if we stand up to them," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
When asked if he felt the European Central Bank would continue to loan money to the State even if a euro crisis was triggered by defaulting Mr Adams said the country is “going down the tubes” and that “hard choices” need to be made.
“The ECB has a lot of money in Ireland, but that’s its problem," he said. “We are far better dealing with this on our terms, protecting our interest, acting in our common good rather than a crisis coming down the line which will just swamp everybody.
“The only way forward is to get people back to work, tidy up the banks and get working banks and then clean up the waste within our tax system.”
Mr Adams added that politicians have to lead by example. It is “cynical” for politicians to be debating among themselves “about their fat pensions and how much they are going to earn while they are asking ordinary citizens to tighten their belts”.
"All of us need to be in this together,” he said.