Sir, – Diarmuid O’Flynn (March 8th) may be right when he says the promissory notes “deal”, “being trumpeted as a triumph by the Government”, is a bit of an over-sell.
But Mr O’Flynn himself is not doing a bad job over-selling the “Ireland says NO!” campaign.
His metaphor of “our rich and powerful neighbour” in Europe asking us “to pay his massive mortgage on his stately home” is far-fetched and stretched beyond credibility.
Many of our most influential citizens had large numbers of their own, more highly valued, stately and not so stately homes during the Celtic tiger period.
Because they had an income higher than most of the Europeans during that time they added massively to the stock of houses and borrowed recklessly for the privilege.
When interest rates went up, those same Europeans, who did not indulge in the building binge, became involved in keeping the money flowing here at low rates of interest.
Now the “Ireland says NO!” campaign wants to default.
The question that the people behind “Ireland says NO!” campaign needs to answer is: what do we use for money on the morning after we default when the holes in the wall do not open? – Yours, etc,