Madam, – Danny McCoy, director general of Ibec, (Opinion, April 16th) wrote that the cost of the banking crisis is a manageable burden, reinforcing the same point made earlier by Prof Alan Barrett of the ESRI. More recently, Prof Patrick Honohan, Governor of the Central Bank, told us that the burden is manageable. What is completely missing is any explanation as to how the burden is manageable.
What assumptions are being made about GDP, what percentage of GDP will be earmarked to reduce the burden and over what time period? It looks like Fintan O’Toole (Opinion, August 31st) also would like to know the answers to these questions. The plain people of Ireland have a right to know. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Fintan O’Toole (“Waking up to reality of an economic nightmare” Opinion, August 31st) is incorrect in describing Ireland’s current plight as some sort of dream. However, the sub-editor got it right, by describing it in the headline as a nightmare. The evolution of the banking system is truly a nightmare, but unfortunately it is not a nightmare that we are about to wake up from any time soon.
Ireland cannot afford the cost of the bank bailout, and we should not be lauding the NTMA every time another Irish bond issue is delivered successfully. We are borrowing money that we cannot afford, to bail out a banking system that has failed us.
A sharp fall in the income of a family would be manageable if the family cut back expenditure on food, clothing and heating, just as the cost of the bank bailout is also manageable for Ireland, provided we cut back on expenditure on health, education, and social services. It is time to call a halt to this madness before we completely destroy the country for this generation and generations to come. Keep up the good work Mr O’Toole. – Yours, etc,