Why The Irish Will Pay

Irish people are facing massive cuts in public services due to the 2008 banking crisis and the future looks bleak for our European neighbours. Almost £39 billion of taxpayers money will be used to bail out Anglo Irish Bank, while at the same time taxpayers will be forced to pay for the bail out.

As public sector pay drops between 5 - 15% and thousands of jobs are cut, ordinary Irish people are being punished for the greed of bankers and market traders. The nations debt rises towards 32% of Irish GDP, it will not be the bankers who will pay for their greed. Sadly, the Irish people have pretty much rolled over and allowed the government too impose cut after cut. Instead the working class should have collectively risen up and opposed such cuts. Deemed too big to fail, the bailout is further proof that capitalism is a failed system in which speculators and city traders should pay the price for their failure. The same people reaped massive rewards over the years but will not need to pay - the Irish people will pick up the £39b tag. Unless the working class people of Ireland rise up and challenge the ruling class, they will end up paying for the banking crisis for years too come.

In Britain, the ConDem coalition are embarking on the destruction of public services and risking 1.3m jobs in the process - even though the debt does not need to be paid quickly. In fact, it should be remembered that UK debt from 1918 to 1961 national debt was over 100% of GDP. The Irish government cuts have not helped their economy to grow, instead it has contracted even more as unemployment rises and people have less money to spend.

Across the UK, groups are springing up with the aim of defending public services and protecting jobs. Unions like PCS (Public and Commercial Services Union) have produced material to show there is an alternative to the cuts programme.