Irish to vote on EU fiscal treaty
Enda Kenny said it was in Ireland's national interest that the treaty be approved and he was confident the referendum would be passed.
Last month, Mr Kenny joined 24 other EU states in agreeing the pact for stricter budget discipline.
The government had sought advice from the attorney general as to whether a referendum was necessary.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17196560
Given the ill feeling about austerity, and Ireland's history of referenda being rejected if the people aren't happy, I'm surprised they're so confident about it passing.
Response to muriel_volestrangler (Original post)
dsfgerher Message deleted by the DU Administrators
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)make them vote on it until they do pass it - as they have in the past.
DocMac
(1,628 posts)i'd like to see full disclosure.
I'd also like to know why Ireland is involved with the EU?
Perhaps people didn't understand the first time!
muriel_volestrangler
(101,405 posts)When it joined (the EEC, as it was then) in 1973, its GDP per capita was only just above half the EEC average. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics_relating_to_enlargement_of_the_European_Union#1973_enlargement
By 2000, it was above Germany's, France's and the UK's : http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?page=2
It's the boom and bust from the influx of money under the Euro that was the problem. And the fatal decision that it would guarantee all the debts of its casino banks when the bust came.
DocMac
(1,628 posts)They could actually put those bankers in prison. I'm surprised that they don't.
I hope Scotland puts some banking laws into place before they leave the UK.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,405 posts)...
Yet Salmond's mea culpa is more significant than most: he was once an energy economist for RBS, and the first minister is keen to show he is comfortable and knowledgeable on banking. He cites Sir George Mathewson, the former chief executive of the RBS, as one of his mentors and allies; Mathewson is now on Salmond's financial services advisory board.
His supporters will argue this is a brave step: Salmond is a proud man. Scottish Labour disagrees: that was simply a half apology, they argue. They have been brandished the letter Salmond wrote days after winning the Scottish election in 2007 urging on the then Sir Fred Goodwin to take over the Dutch bank ABN Amro.
He offered Goodwin "any assistance my office can provide", for a take-over which toppled RBS and forced then Chancellor Alistair Darling to spend £46bn saving it from disintegration.
...
Labour took great delight in quoting back Salmond's words from an article in the Times on 7 April 2007:
We are pledging a light-touch regulation suitable to a Scottish financial sector with its outstanding reputation for probity, as opposed to one like that in the UK, which absorbs huge amounts of management time in 'gold-plated' regulation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/scotland-blog/2012/feb/01/alex-salmond-regrets-backing-goodwin
Their current stance is that it was all Westminster's fault after all, and the Royal Bank of Scotland is nothing to do with Scotland:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot/2012/01/independence-debate-scotland-0
DocMac
(1,628 posts)Scotland and Ireland have some of the best minds that i'm aware of.
I would argue that , even after a few pints, that they can debate the best and beat up the rest. lol
midnight
(26,624 posts)For a decade, Ireland was the EU's superstar. A skilled work force, high productivity and low corporate taxes drew foreign investment. The Irish, once the poor of Europe, became richer than everyone but the Luxemburgers. Fatefully, they put their newfound wealth in property.
As the European Central Bank held interest rates low, Ireland saw easy credit for construction loans and mortgages. Developers turned docklands into office towers and sheep pastures into subdivisions. In 2006, builders put up 93,419 homes, three times the rate a decade earlier.
Anglo, founded in 1964, spent its first three decades making small commercial real-estate loans. But when Sean FitzPatrick, an ambitious accountant, took the bank's reins in 1986, he opened big offices in London and the U.S. Anglo bankrolled marquee projects, putting $70 million behind the Chicago Spire, planned as America's tallest building.
Rivals followed suit. Allied Irish Banks PLC deployed "win-back teams" to claw away borrowers from Anglo. Bank of Ireland executives wooed clients with trips on corporate jets.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704506404575592360334457040.html
I don't know why this model of austerity is being used to deal with this banking crisis?
texshelters
(1,979 posts)Foc il leat!
Austerity is a way to crush the people while the banks get off free. Go the way of Iceland!
http://polizeros.com/2012/02/17/iceland-is-recovering-after-arresting-its-banksters/
Peace,
Tex Shelters