Sinn Fein and United Left Alliance TDs walked out of Ireland’s Dail (Parliament) protesting the Government’s refusal to debate the $961 million (€700m) payment to Anglo bondholders.
Tanaiste (Vice Prime Minister) Eamon Gilmore said they had failed to come up with any alternative remedies.
During the Dail session Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny defended the payment. He said a failure to honor this debt would hamper Ireland’s efforts to get a $13.7 billion (€10bn) interest rate reduction in the future. He also blamed the European Central Bank (ECB) for failing to allow Ireland to burn the Anglo bondholders.
He said he blames the previous government for negotiating this deal. Kenny said he has “no intention” of turning the country into “some kind of sub-Saharan state based on reckless decisions” by defaulting on this payment.
_____________
Read More:
More news on Irish politics from IrishCentral
'Glee' show with leprechaun Damian McGinty a disgrace
United Airlines to announce Washington DC service to Dublin
______________
The Taoiseach said “We are not going to scuttle this ship.”
He continued “I’d love to stand up here and say to you that it’s not necessary to pay this money. It has not been possible for this government to unravel the agreement made by your government with external parties.”
Sinn Fein’s President Gerry Adams said he would not stay in the Dail if there was no debate.
Following the Parliamentary session Gilmore told the Irish Examiner “They’re offering no alternatives…The reality here is that we have a serious difficulty.
"As a country, we are working to renegotiate the terms of the arrangements that were entered into by the last Government – that’s not something that can be done overnight."
Independent TD Shane Ross said the government had a choice over what to do but had “decided to go down exactly the same road as was went down by the last government”.
19 Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.seanomelbourne | Nov 06, 2011, 06:44 PM EST
gobdawpaddy your first sentence should read "... and improve your standard of english".That bloody glass house is full of gobsh.tes and plastic Irish morons.
gobdawpaddy | Nov 06, 2011, 06:34 PM EST
Peter, you are really going to have to educate yourself and improve your standard of the english language. When you post on this website you are representing the Irish contributors here. You can't always be seen as backward.
sirpeter | Nov 06, 2011, 03:34 PM EST
Gobshite. You're full of bullsh*t as usual.Did I ever tell you about the time I got food poisoning in New York?I was doing cartwheels in the toilet wondering which end was going to spew next for 24 hours.I guess most Americans sell contaminated food.But I guess (not all)What I do know for sure is Americans have an idiot issue.Seeing that you live over there along with Georgy Boy.
gobdawpaddy | Nov 06, 2011, 07:06 AM EST
Audrey, no clue what George's experience might have been but my experience's in Ireland are evidence to me that Irish people in general (not all) have issues with hygeine. On a recent trip I observed a bartender eating her nails and then picking up a scone to serve to a customer. I outlined part of my 'dirty' Irish hospital experience below, appalling.
FallsRNat | Nov 05, 2011, 04:22 PM EDT
i bet they claimed their attendence allowance for that day.
audreybolton | Nov 05, 2011, 01:04 PM EDT
Hilda and Niall, I think George Dillon just goes on this site to annoy Irish people because he had a bad experience when he lived in Dublin apparently.Our hospitals and schools,despite the shortage of money and staff at the moment are NOT DIRTY. I speak from personal experience. What's this story about a toilet seat? George is the same about all things Irish, he dosen't like the Irish Army either (of which I am a member). SO JUST IGNORE HIM!
GeorgeDillon | Nov 05, 2011, 08:09 AM EDT
One of the most dangerous places to be in Ireland--a hospital. But if you have to be hospitalized, let's hope you can be placed in a "virtual ward". That's a trolley in a corridor, by the way. Much better than the standard Irish hospital accommodation--a toilet seat.
sirpeter | Nov 04, 2011, 07:12 PM EDT
Bilgegate has never ever been an honest broker in Irish affairs.His contempt for everything Irish is very transparent.It's lucky he doesn't make sense.Even his school boy bully analogy is incorrect.FG & Labour are in power and they are the people who can BULLY legislation through and also decide the agenda.As in the school yard the best form of protest is to just walk away.Sinn Fein is exactly the opposition that we need at the moment.Bilgegate doesn't really know why he's against everything Irish.Like the Unionists his Daddy told him to be.
sirpeter | Nov 04, 2011, 06:40 PM EDT
They have a right to walk out.Nobody here knows for sure if the bail out plan is the correct way to go or not.This is why I vote for Sinn Fein.They bring things to the attention of the public.It forces the government to be more careful in their decision making.
merefalow | Nov 04, 2011, 09:33 AM EDT
something stinks here,why cant it be re negosiated,and brought out into the open?why cant they explain why these negosiations were arrived at,whats to hide,demand transparency,
MacGiobuinR | Nov 03, 2011, 08:17 PM EDT
The government should have had some floor debate on this issue, especially in the light of the fiasco in Greece. Instead of walking out of the Dail Sinn Fein should have held fast to their seats and continue to maintain a presence on the floor. Walking out always leaves your opponents in charge of things, and that is never good. Slainte!
seanomelbourne | Nov 03, 2011, 06:40 PM EDT
The united left alliance and Sinn Fein exercised their democratic right to walk out in protest.The government muzzled debate on the bail out plan exercising their right under parliamentary standing orders,this is how parliamentary democracies work.Towngate posted on the 25th. of October that "Pearse was a visionary,had leadership qualities,a racist,a traitor and a fantasist".Towngates is not an honest broker in this debate and I find this disappointing.
Towngate | Nov 03, 2011, 06:16 PM EDT
That's it lads! ... such statesmanlike behaviour! ...Still, after your kicking in the Aras election, when you barely got the SF vote out - ye may as well keep on walking ... The Dail is not a playground for schoolyard bullies!
RedBranch | Nov 03, 2011, 12:38 PM EDT
Keep on walking and don't let the door hit you on the way out.
jamieLM | Nov 03, 2011, 11:34 AM EDT
@gobdawpaddy, as an RN I'm shocked that basic hygiene practices were not followed in the hospital you went to. Old or new, hospitals need to be responsible in seeing that all of their personnel working in them are in compliance with vital hygiene standards to prevent the spread of disease. This is true of hospitals and clinics in every country.
gobdawpaddy | Nov 03, 2011, 10:21 AM EDT
Agree with Bailey re SF seeking headlines. I also however have to agree with George re the state of Irish hospitals. I had the misfortune of having to visit the emergency center at one of Ireland's principal hospitals. I swore I would never do so again unless there were flashing lights and sirens involved. In the waiting room there was paint peeling from the walls and the seats were grubby. Patients are brought into a second waiting room in the ambulance bay. In this meant to be 'sterile' area, there was a guy scoffing down a McDonalds. When I was called there was no such practice of changing the sheet on the examination bed as in the states and no sign of the nurse washing her hands after the previous patient. It's no wonder they experience the 'winter vomiting bug and have a high incidence of MRSA. I got a haircut on a recent visit and was shocked to see that they also don't sterilize combs etc. after each customer. The Irish have a lot to learn about hygeine.
Bailey2000 | Nov 03, 2011, 10:05 AM EDT
The shinners are just indulging in reckless headline grabbing. We paid this money because we are still borrowing €45 M per day. As soon as we fix that we can tell the IMF etc to drop dead. In the meantime its yes SIR! Thanks for paying salaries to 25% of Irelands workforce. And by the way I agree with George Irish hospitals are simply not filthy or squalid. Cannot comment on the leaky schools.
newnation | Nov 03, 2011, 09:42 AM EDT
GeorgeDillion: who do you think you are! The only reason any money was handed over by any irish government was to stop the global banking system from complete collapse. all these problems were initiated by America. Irish hospitals don't lie in filth and squalor! Nor are out schools leaky and rain infested. We are building new hospitals, new schools and at the same helping to try same your stupid capitalist system. Thats the only problem in Ireland! No young irish people abandon ireland either we move away for a few years to help our beloved state get back on its feet so were not a burden in the short term. We will return and make it the greatest state on this earth with what we have learned, and we will be taking no notes from your idiotic country! You have some nerve, you shouldn't even be allowed on a Irish related site.
GeorgeDillon | Nov 03, 2011, 08:56 AM EDT
What utter fools the Irish are. They hand over a billion bucks to foreign banks, even while their own hospitals lie in filth and squalor, their young people abandon their homeland, and their children go to school in leaky rain-infested buildings. Ireland-- the real failed state.