Thousands rally against austerity

Sat, 09 Feb, 2013 - 14:27

Thousands of trade unionists have taken to the streets to insist that Ireland’s multi-billion debt woes have not been solved by this week’s deal with Europe’s banking chiefs.

Long-planned Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) rallies to protest at spending cuts brought about by the banking crisis went ahead despite the negotiated changes to how the state repays the colossal bill racked up from its rescue of toxic lenders.

The Government’s Project Red saw €28bn worth of costly IOUs – so-called promissory notes issued after the nationalisation of the failed Anglo Irish Bank – swapped for long-term sovereign bonds.

The arrangement, which was backed by European Central Bank officials after a meeting in Frankfurt, will effectively see the state repay Anglo’s debt over a longer period – a move that will reduce the size of annual payments.

Yet another protest disrupting my weekend travel out of city center... #Dublin who can disagree with Jobs Not Debt? pic.twitter.com/H0lmUnMB
— Amit Padukone (@APadukone) February 9, 2013

The Government claims the deal could mean €1bn in tax hikes and spending cuts can be avoided in upcoming budgets. It has also claimed it will wipe €20bn off the total cost of Anglo.

But union leaders insist the agreement does not alter the fact that taxpayers are still footing the bill for the bankers’ failures.

As a result they pressed ahead with plans for rallies in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Sligo.

The people take to the streets of Cork. #ICTU #protest #corkecho pic.twitter.com/hycdqV5t
— Ann Murphy (@CraftyReporter) February 9, 2013

ICTU General Secretary David Begg said: “It would be fatal for people to believe this issue is now resolved and we can all move on.”

“February 9 is an opportunity to tell the authorities in Europe that the bank debt does not belong to the people of Ireland.

“At the onset of the crisis Ireland had one of the lowest debt to GDP ratios in Europe. The difference between then and now is due entirely to Ireland socialising bank debt at the behest of the ECB, to save the European banking system.”