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THE POPE HAS ended his official two-day visit to Ireland.
There was a packed schedule for the pope today, with events starting at Knock Shrine in Co Mayo, before a mass at the Pope’s Cross in the Phoenix Park attended by thousands of people.
There were also a number of demonstrations around the country in solidarity with survivors of clerical abuse. Take a look back:
Good morning! It was an early start at Knock Shrine for people hoping to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis. So far the weather has not been in their favour…
The pope is due at Knock Shrine at 9.45am and in the last few minutes he landed at Knock International Airport.
Some local children on the runway to meet the pope and welcome him.
Meanwhile, Daragh Brophy reports there are 8km tailbacks in Mayo this morning.
Some 45,000 people applied for the free tickets to the pope’s Knock visit. Organisers were encouraging them to travel by coach, warning motorists that they would face a 3km walk to the event.
Pope Francis will only stay in Knock for about an hour. At the shrine he will lead the Angelus prayer – the time has been changed to fit his schedule.
If you are in Dublin, don’t forget that there are road closures – 80 in total – there too due to the mass at the Phoenix Park later.
Areas impacted include Ballyfermot, Chapelizod, Castleknock, Navan Road, Islandbridge, and the north and south quays.
People are advised to take public transport, but these services are expected to be very busy as the hundreds of thousands attending the mass will be using the bus and Luas to get there.
If you really need to get somewhere today, here’s our bumper guide for getting around.
Speaking of the Phoenix Park, roaming reporters Daragh Brophy and Nicky Ryan are there and have some live footage for us on Facebook.
We hope they have their wellies on, it looks very wet there…
They do, at the very least, have an umbrella between them:
And a spacious media centre to shelter in…
The first of the mass goers are being allowed in to take their seats. It will be a long wait for them now though.
To coincide with the mass at the Phoenix Park later, we will also have an event at the the Garden of Remembrance. People will gather in solidarity with with survivors of clerical abuse.
Artists including Hozier, Roisin O from Thanks Brother and Liam O’Maonlai will perform at it.
And in Tuam, Co Galway, Catherine Corless has oraganised an event to remember everyone who died at the mother and baby home.
There was disappointment yesterday that the pope did not apologise or acknowledge a cover-up by the Church in his speech, though he did address the general topic of child sexual abuse by members of the clergy.
Last night, Darren McGavin, a survivor of abuse at the hands of former priest Tony Walsh called for greater accountability within the Catholic Church.
McGavin told a ‘Separate Church and State’ meeting at Dublin’s Gresham Hotel last night that he had hoped to meet with the pope during his visit “because I represent nine lads in Ballyfermot that died from suicide at the hands of Fr Tony Walsh”.
Pope Francis has now arrived in Knock village and is driving through in the Popemobile, thankfully not as quickly as he travelled through Dublin yesterday.
Pope Francis has arrived at Knock Apparition Chapel.
We have an update from Daragh Brophy at the Phoenix Park:
“It was very wet indeed here at the site of the papal Mass, when we arrived shortly after 9am this morning.
“The weather has eased a bit now. There’s a steady stream of people arriving – but it’s mostly people involved in the ceremony at the moment (choirs, priests etc).
One women who’s singing today said she had walked to the papal cross from O’Connell Street. She was also at the concert at Croke Park last night and said she was delighted the pope had spent so long touring the playing field in his Popemobile.
“There’ll be more of that later, before the Mass itself starts at 3pm. The pope will be here at 2.30 and will, once again, tour the site on the back of his custom vehicle.
“There are reporters from around 30 countries in a giant media centre with 400 work areas – including lots of reporters from religious newspapers and broadcasters.”
Pilgrims in Knock are now joining the pope in a silent prayer.
If you’re interested in learning more about how Knock turned into a global pilgrimage site, we’ve got everything you need to know about the ‘strange occurrences’ here.
Next, Pope Francis will deliver a brief address to those gathered outside and will then lead them in the Angelus prayer, which will be in Latin.
Pope Francis is now addressing the crowd.
Speaking of his prayer to the Virgin Mary inside the chapel, he said: “I presented to her all the victims of abuse, of whatever kind, committed by members of the Church in Ireland.
“None of us can fail to be moved by the stories of young people who suffered abuse, were robbed of their innocence and left scarred by painful memories. This open wound challenges us to be firm and decisive in the pursuit of truth and justice.
“I beg the lord’s forgiveness for these sins and for the scandal and betrayal felt by so many in God’s family. I ask our blessed mother to intercede for the healing of the survivors and to confirm every member of our Christian family in the resolve never again to permit these situations to occur.”
The pope is back in his Skoda, windows down, on his way back to the airport. He is a little behind schedule for this flight back to Dublin.
Store this in your brain for future table quizzes:
RTÉ is speaking to the family who greeted the pope when he got off the plane in Knock. Mary McCarthy said “time stood still” when he came down the steps and stood in front of her.
“I had to take the opportunity to kiss him on both cheeks, I didn’t think I’d ever get that opportunity.”
Pope Francis gave them each rosary beads and asked them to pray for him.
Abuse survivor Colm O’Gorman has been reacting to the pope’s address in Knock.
Remember O’Gorman has organised an event in support of abuse survivors this afternoon to coincide with the Phoenix Park mass. He said thousands of people are expected to attend.
Parish priest Fr Richard Gibbons, who is presiding over the pope’s visit to Knock, spoke to us as part of a report on the abortion referendum campaign back at the start of May.
We also visited the nearby small town of Kiltimagh, where we spoke to activists calling for a Yes vote in the referendum.
It’s worth a watch if you’re interested in knowing more about attitudes towards the Church in the area, and how they have changed since the last papal visit in ’79 and the 8th Amendment referendum in 1983.
So, next on the itinerary for the pontiff is a lunch with the papal delegation, once he lands back in Dublin. And after that he will travel to the Phoenix Park – he is due to arrive there at 2.30pm.
Up to 500,000 people are expected to attend the mass.
Back in 1979, the last papal visit to Ireland, over 1.25 million people attended the mass in the Phoenix Park to see Pope John Paul II.
Our reporter Nicky Ryan, who is at the Phoenix Park said there is a high level of security and people have been arriving since early this morning to get a good spot.
He and fellow roaming reporter Daragh Brophy are braving the rain to bring you updates from the park today.
They spoke to sisters Breda Regan and Pauline Lenihan who have brought the same chair their parents brought to the 1979 mass.
“I’ve kind of nostalgic reasons for coming. We’re born and bred Catholics, none of us are as good as we used to be in our youth but we’re still hanging in,” Pauline told them.
Good news from another early arrival Declan Brady, who said the journey there was “very easy”.
“There must have been about 30 or 40 buses waiting and we ended up coming in a bus on or own – we were probably first to leave Swords, there were only three of us on the bus. I’d say once the rain eases off, people will come in droves.”
“We’ve been walking for maybe about an hour and leisurely at that so it hasn’t been a problem,” he added.
We are not sure what is on the menu for the pope’s lunch this afternoon, but the reporters in the Phoenix Park are being well fed anyway…
Bring us back a bit of cake will you, Daragh?
Er, maybe keep the horses off the red carpet…
We have some pictures now from the pope’s visit to Knock:
As we mentioned earlier, there has been criticism again today of the pope’s choice of words in relation to clerical abuse.
He made reference to survivors in his address to the crowd in Knock earlier, and begged for God’s forgiveness for “these sins”.
Abuse survivor Colm O’Gorman pointed out that, again, the pope did not mention accountability “or the Vatican’s responsibility for directing the cover up of these crimes”.
We are hearing that the official headcount for Phoenix Park at the moment is 50,000. Of course, it’s still early – the mass doesn’t start for about another two hours.
Our roaming reporter Nicky Ryan said the numbers heading to the park are starting to build now:
A special shoutout to Paul the bus driver for getting Nicky back into the city centre…
He – Nicky, not Paul the bus driver – will be heading to the Stand for Truth demonstration at the Garden of Remembrance later. There he will speak to people who have attended to stand in solidarity with clerical sex abuse survivors.
And don’t forget there is also an event in Tuam this afternoon to remember those who died at the Co Galway mother and baby home.
Marian Cassidy, who is attending the mass at the Phoenix Park, told us she’d like to hear the pope announce Dubliner Matt Talbot is to be canonised.
Talbot, who was an unskilled laborer, is considered the patron of men and women who are struggling with alcoholism, though he has never been formally recognised as a saint.
He was an alcoholic from the age of 13, but took the pledge at 28 and never drank again. Talbot said he found strength in the early years of his sobriety in prayer and became a devout Catholic.
He died on heart failure in 1925 and when his body was found it was discovered that he wore chains around his waist, one of his arms, and one of his legs, as well as chords around the other arm and leg. These were symbols of his devotion to Mary and his wish be her servant.
“I would love it with all my heart,” Marian Cassidy said of the possibility that Pope Francis could announce Talbot’s canonisation.
She has been praying to him for 40 years.
We have more from the Phoenix Park, where pilgrims are continuing to filter in for this afternoon’s mass. Less than an hour to go now…
Daragh Brophy, still reporting from the park has set the scene for us – he said people came well prepared:
“Raincoats and backpacks were the uniform of the day, and everyone we spoke to said they’d brought a packed lunch.”
Dublin Fire Brigade are among those keeping tabs on those arriving to the Phoenix Park for the pope’s visit. Here’s the latest view from their control tower.
Latest imagery from our command unit in @phoenixparkopw. Corrals starting to fill up, people moving well #PhoenixPark #PopeInIreland #PopeInThePark pic.twitter.com/aSwj5577Vt
— Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) August 26, 2018
Tánaiste Simon Coveney has given his take on Pope Francis’ comments on clerical abuse.
He said they show he is “clearly angered” by what took place. Speaking to RTÉ Coveney said the pope’s remarks included “the strongest language I’ve ever heard from a pope”.
This photo from An Garda Síochána shows the Phoenix Park is starting to fill up. Just a half an hour now until Pope Francis is due to arrive for his mass…
And here’s the latest update from our reporter Daragh Brophy, who is awaiting the pontiff’s arrival at the park:
“The media centre is rammed now, and there’s been a noticeable uptick in activity as crews get everything organised in time for the pope’s arrival outside.
“Weather-wise, the worst of the rain has stopped but there’s still some misty showers about and most people arriving have either a poncho or a proper raincoat.
“We’ve just been let up to the raised platform overlooking the crowd.
“Much larger crowds coming in from the main drag of the park, Chesterfield Avenue, and from Islandbridge direction.”
It is worth pointing out in the context of discussion around sex abuse by members of the clergy in Ireland that news on the topic broke in the US this morning.
The Vatican’s retired ambassador to the US has accused the pope of failing to act on abuse by an ex-Cardinal.
In an 11-page letter, he claims Pope Francis initially rehabilitated Theodore McCarrick despite being informed of his penchant for young seminarians in 2013, soon after he was elected pope.
As pilgrims flock into the Phoenix Park, crowds are also starting to gather at the Garden of Remembrance for the Stand for Truth event:
And at the GPO, people are currently gathering for the Nope to the Pope protest:
Lisa Breslin told the crowd the people of Ireland stand in solidarity with abuse victims and “there is no need for them to be afraid anymore.
“The Catholic Church is losing its power and the world is waking up to the reality of this institutional power,” she added, receiving a big cheer.
Back at the Phoenix Park, the congregation is growing steadily, though it is not expected to reach the 500,000 figures we have been hearing the the lead-up.
The weather may have been a contributing factor in that, as well as the long walk facing pilgrims and the ban on mobility scooters.
And the pope has arrived at the Phoenix Park. He starts by driving around to wave to the crowd gathered in the rain to greet him:
This from our reporter Daragh Brophy:
“Another weather update for you. That was QUITE the squall we had there, but the rain and wind has died down a fair bit now.
It’s still showery and breezy here in the Phoenix Park. The pope has just arrived.
Pope Francis is smiling and waving.
“He looks a little windswept.
“Enthusiastic cheers from the crowd and people are waving Vatican flags as he tours the site.
The Popemobile stopped briefly there as he shook hands with wellwishers.
Daragh tells us people are reaching up to greet him wherever they can, but not everyone is quite so lucky.
“People are running through open spaces towards barriers to try and catch a closer look,” he said.
Daragh Brophy reports from the park:
“The Popemobile slowed down as the pope made his way through the busier areas of the crowd.
There were some complaints yesterday that his parade through Dublin city centre proceeded with unanticipated haste.
He’s moving at a rather more stately pace here.
“He’s going all about the site, and isn’t due to begin celebrating Mass until 3pm.
“My next few updates may also be about a man moving around atop a vehicle, in other words, so feel free to come back later.”
But not too much later, readers, if you want to catch the mass. It is due to start in about 20 minutes.
The Taoiseach isn’t too happy about the weather today it seems, though President Higgins is still having a ball:
Back at the Garden of Remembrance, our reporter Nicky Ryan says the crowd at the Stand for Truth event – standing in solidarity with abuse survivors – is growing fast.
And in Tuam, an demonstration to remember those who died at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home has also started.
The crowd, which includes hundreds of people, is walking in silence:
At the Phoenix Park, the pope is still touring the site.
Daragh Brophy tells us there is still a fair bit of space in the sprawling site that’s been set aside in the park to host the papal event.
“500,000 tickets were sent out, free of charge, but the rain may well have put some people off this morning. A million people attended Pope John Paul’s Mass here in 1979,” he says.
A sign of how much Ireland has changed over the last 39 years… Bishop Eamon Casey and Father Michael Cleary acted as the warm-up act for the pontiff during his ’79 visit.
Wondering why the pope’s registration number is SCV 1?
From Daragh:
“According to an article in the Telegraph that I just Googled it’s the registration given to all Popemobiles and “is an abbreviation of the Italian and Latin names for Vatican City, Stato della Città del Vaticano and Status Civitatis Vaticanae, respectively”.
“I may be back with more facts purloined from that Popemobile article, if this driveabout doesn’t end soon.”
More from outside the Garden of Remembrance:
The mass at the Phoenix Park is about to begin – the crowd as been asked to refrain from holding up banners or waving flags now.
Here’s a view of the crowd size in the park. We won’t have official numbers from the gardaí until afterwards – people are still making their way inside.
The Stand for Truth event is also about to begin in Dublin’s city centre.
We’ll be bringing you updates from that as well as the mass in the Phoenix Park over the next couple of hours, so stay with us.
Large cheers from the congregation at the Phoenix Park at the first sight of the pontiff on the altar:
As the mass gets underway, Daragh has some thoughts on bishops’ attire:
“The thought ‘some of these bishops have very impressive hats’ just occurred to me. I know they’re referred to as mitres, but my knowledge more-or-less ended there (I’ve only been papal correspondent since yesterday morning). So here’s a bit more info from an ABC News article:
“The tall folded hat worn by popes and other bishops is called a mitre, and is an ancient symbol of priestly authority. Mitre’s come in several styles: simplex or simple, made of white linen or silk; pretiosa or precious, adorned in precious stones; and auriphrygiata or gold (seen here) made of gold cloth or white cloth with a gold fringe, typically worn during celebrations.”
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in his opening prayer says the Church in Ireland has gone through a difficult time, noting the people have been “wounded” by members of the clergy.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin is talking about the papal cross.
We are gathering around this cross in the hope of a spring for the Irish church, he says.
A spring that does not with to cover up those dark days.
The Church in Ireland needs the message of Jesus to reappear in all it’s hopefulness, he says.
Faith in Ireland is strong, he says. But it is also fragile.
The Pope begins by asking for forgiveness for abuses against people by members of the clergy.
“We ask forgiveness for the abuse in Ireland. Abuses of power, conscience and sexual abuse perpetrated by members with roles of responsibility in the Church.”
He also asks for forgiveness for some members of the Church hierarchy who “did not take charge of painful situations and kept quiet”.
In his prayer, Pope Francis asked pardon “for all the abuses for all the abuses committed in various types of institutions run by male or female religious and by other members of the Church and we ask for forgiveness”.
He said the Church was also asking for forgiveness for those exploited through manual work.
Back at the Garden of Remembrance, abuse survivor Colm O’Gorman started the solidarity gathering by asking the large crowd to silently consider why they are there.
“And then think about our shared intent – what we bring here as individuals, as people, as women, as men, as children as people living in this country and what we’ve got to say to the world. We’re here to stand for truth.”
Following a song by Mry Coughlan – Magdelene Laundry – Brian Kennedy took to the stage, encouraging the crowd to chant “truth, justice and love”.
And in Tuam, Catherine Corless has joined survivors of mother and baby homes:
Outside the Garden of Remembrance, Brian Kennedy sings ‘Imagine’ and the crowd joins in:
Meanwhile back at the Phoenix Park, the pope is leading the prayers again, speaking now about the importance of family.
We’ve heard the total number in attendance is just under 130,000. Here’s the latest aerial photo from the Air Corps:
A few moments of silent reflection now at the Phoenix Park:
Our reporter Daragh Brophy, who has been at the Phoenix Park all day, says the pope’s earlier comments on abuses by Church members were not necessarily expected:
“Material on what he would say in his homily was distributed to the press ahead of the Mass – and his remarks at the opening of the ceremony were a departure from that,” he said.
If you missed it earlier, here are some of his comments:
“We ask forgiveness for the abuse in Ireland. Abuses of power, conscience and sexual abuse perpetrated by members with roles of responsibility in the Church.
In a special way we ask pardon for all the abuses committed in various institutions run by male or female religious members of the church and we ask for forgiveness for those cases of exploitation through manual work that so many young women and men were subjected to.
“We ask forgiveness for the times that as a church we did not show survivors of whatever kind of abuse compassion and the seeking of justice and truth through concrete actions. We ask for forgiveness.”
Gifts now being brought to the altar by families, including Emma Mhic Mhathuna – one of the woman impacted by the Cervical Check scandal – and her children:
If you’re curious about the music today, Daragh Brophy tells us that in total, 3,000 voices from across all 26 dioceses will make up the main choir.
“Many more will contribute to the congregational singing with their own parish choirs in the corrals spread across the Phoenix Park,” he explained.
“Individuals and choirs have been rehearsing together locally in their dioceses for a number of months but this was the first time that the countrywide group was brought together.”
Daragh has also just realised he unintentionally joined the Vatican delegation:
If you missed Archbiship Diarmuid Martin’s welcome earlier, here are some extracts:
“It is commonplace to say that today you come to a different Ireland. The Church in Ireland has gone through challenging times. People have been wounded in the depth of their being by Church people; people’s faith has been challenged and the Church of Jesus Christ has been wounded.
“This Cross which dominates our gathering today is a symbol. It was probably never intended to be a permanent memorial. There were times when people asked that it be removed. There were times when this Cross appeared starkly isolated in the bleakness of an Irish winter.
In these years Ireland has had its winter moments but also its moments of spring. Those of us who know what an Irish winter is like – and we have had good experience of that this year – know also what happens when the first rays of spring sun emerge. Ireland changes.
“Today we gather around the same cross in the hope of a spring for the Irish Church. We look towards a spring sun that does not wish to cover up the harshness of dark days. We wish rather to help families realise anew that the future of Ireland needs the light of the message of Jesus Christ to reappear in all its simplicity and hopefulness.”
We told you earlier that fewer than 130,000 people are in attendance, though 500,000 tickets were sold.
Our reporter Stephen McDermott has reminded us that this month, HSE emergency chiefs warned those with health problems against attending the mass if they were unable to do so, while poor weather is also understood to have kept many mass-goers at home.
He also notes a significant number of tickets were snapped up by protesters when they were made available in July, with some booking hundreds of tickets without any intention of attending today’s mass.
Some more images from the park:
Let’s hear now from our reporter Nicky Ryan, who is outside the Garden of Remembrance.
He tells us writer Marian Keyes made a particularly strong speech:
“More than anything, what we need from the Catholic Church is humility…that these were real children, women, babies…and nothing they [the Church] have said has shown that they think we’re real.”
Hozier also performed at the gathering:
And Colm O’Gorman shared his own story of clerical sex abuse, which he said started soon after John Paul II’s visit, during which he made the ‘young people of Ireland, I love you’ speech.
“You did not love us,” O’Gorman said.
The crowd is now going to start moving in silence to Sean McDermott Street, the site of one of the last Magdalene Laundries.
In Tuam, the names of 796 babies were read out, as people in the crowd held up cards which also had individual names on them:
Earlier in the Phoenix Park, Pope Francis specifically addressed the treatment of women who in the past became pregnant outside of marriage:
“We ask for forgiveness for those times in which many single mothers were told that to seek out their children who had been separated from them, and the same time being said to the daughters and sons themselves, that this was a mortal sin. This is not a mortal sin. We ask for forgiveness.”
The Mass at the Phoenix Park is now coming to an end. The crowd was told that more than 500,000 people were there, but that’s not quite right. We’re hearing around 130,000, but we will have to wait for official figures after it’s all over. As soon as we find out you guys will be the first to know…
And the big announcement people were waiting for – the next World Meeting of Families will be held in Rome in 2021. So the pope won’t have far to travel.
Roaming reporter Nicky Ryan is bringing us footage live on Facebook now from the Stand for Truth walk to Sean McDermott street, the site of a former Magdalene Laundry.
They are making their way there in silence.
At the same time, Pope Francis is delivering his final remarks. He thanks everyone, “religious or not”, to large cheers from the congregation.
The Stand for Truth crowd has arrived at the former Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott Street:
And in the Phoenix Park, announcements are being made about how people should leave the site. Some sections being asked to remain where they are for the moment, until they’re given a gate to exit, Daragh Brophy tells us.
They were also being asked not to push and to be mindful of children in the crowd.
“People are taking selfies at the site. ‘If you are asked to stop at any point by stewards you are asked to please obey,’ announcer says. ‘Slán Abhaile.’ … Entertainment is to continue here at the site for the moment.”
Now, road closures today were only supposed to be in place until 5.15pm at the latest, but it is likely that there will be disruption for the next couple of hours as the thousands of people who attended the mass make their way home.
We have more from Nicky Ryan now at the former Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott Street.
“You are not forgotten. We love you. We stand with you,” reads one message. Another says: “For my mother, whose abuse was buried by the parish priests.”
And another: “For everyone they hurt…”
The crowd walked there in complete silence:
The last item on Pope Francis’ itinerary is the farewell ceremony at Dublin Airport, which will take place at 6.30pm. After this the pontiff will board his flight back to Rome.
The Stand for Truth gathering has also now concluded:
Here is the crew that will be travelling with the pontiff as he makes his journey home:
The Pope will be arriving shortly at Dublin Airport.
Some last minute handshakes from Pope Francis…
A final wave from the steps of the Aer Lingus plane that will take him home:
Ahead of the Pope’s departure from Dublin Airport, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has welcomed his call for action and forgiveness in relation to clerical sex abuse, but once again said words should be followed by action.
We welcome Pope Francis’s call for firm and decisive action and for forgiveness. We now ask that from words flow actions. We thank Pope Francis for his visit, and ask for his prayers. pic.twitter.com/6cg2YKh6Pr
— Leo Varadkar (@campaignforleo) August 26, 2018
A sense of normality is resuming in the Phoenix Park, where our tireless reporter Daragh Brophy is still (just about) hanging on.
I'm walking back to the city from the cross. Park v quiet by now pilgrims in ones and twos walking towards Chesterfield Ave. #PopeinIreland pic.twitter.com/lWFFn7ti7W
— Daragh Brophy (@DaraghBroph) August 26, 2018
And he’s off.
Pope Francis boards his plane for his flight back to Italy #popeinireland pic.twitter.com/enCoZhwFnW
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 26, 2018
Back in Rome, Vatican News – the official news source of the Holy See – has called the pope’s request for a pardon for clerical abuse, made during his Mass at the Phoenix Park, “unprecedented and unexpected”.
Elsewhere, at least 1,000 people gathered for a vigil at the site of a former home for unmarried mothers in Tuam, Co Galway, to coincide with the papal visit.
Here are a selection of images from the protest taken by PA’s Niall Carson:
Dr Umar Al-Qadri, head of the Islamic Centre Ireland, has expressed his support for demonstrators who attended today’s Stand4Truth march in Dublin city centre.
I also congratulate those that are protesting against the injustices and the covering up by the #Church leadership. Religious leadership must be challenged when required and this ultimately strengthens faith because justice is the essence of faith. #Stand4Truth
— Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri (@DrUmarAlQadri) August 26, 2018
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Special because we done what was needed thank you all the people like myself who just done what was needed instead of moaning. Hard work always pays off
Don’t celebrate just yet, there’s nothing concrete in that statement is there??
“reaffirmed their commitment to examine…”
“They recognise in this context, that Ireland is a special case, and that the Eurogroup will take that into account.”
I REALLY hope you’re right, but this is noting more than a confirmation that they’ll “take a look at it” again.
Yep, I feel the same. I won’t begrudge bad news but we don’t know how much, if any, will be debt reduction and how much will be terms of repayment.
Agreed, apart from spin and waffle the only sentence in the entire statement with any meaning is;
“They recognise in this context, that Ireland is a special case, and that the Eurogroup will take that into account.”
This does not mean anything has changed from this morning, all she has said is that Ireland has had to endure difficulties that other countries hadn’t and that may affect their decision. Or it may not. It’s like a fed up parent saying “I’ll think about it” to an unruly teenager’s pestering, when what they really mean is “no”.
While she may like to think it, legally can Angela Merkel speak for all the other countries involved on this issue, is the decision Germany’s alone?
Rusty balls ask yourself who is the paymaster and then you have the answer to the question you posed.
Oh I know Germany has the biggest wallet in Europe, I said “legally”. If it’s a case that the one with the most money calls the shots, which it effectively seems to be in all but name, then I guess she can speak for everyone. But if you were on that Eurogroup would you not be just a little p!ssed off with her presuming to speak for you?
This will be danced with for the next while until we are in election mode. Merkel & Kenny are the same Christian Democrat wing in the EU. Merkel will allow Kenny to deliver, but not too soon incase we see through it and don’t vote them in again.
This is a sham, hopefully if there is some respite cynically put in place to win the next General Election the Irish people see it for what it is. Remember they could begin easing the burden now or let you suffer on while they gear up for the election win.
what hard work was that exactly, bailing out the rich and the bankers, hammering the old and vunerable and being true patriots by paying the household charge while those at the top continued to live the life and kiss europes asses like zombies…….I hope to whatever god people believe in ye so called non-moaners, patriots and hardworkers are right about this cos were at the last chance saloon and rather than a big fat we told ya so coming from so called moaners were all gonna be in deeper shit than we already are
@ Meh I couldn’t agree more, I’d love to be wrong but I think it’ll play out as you indicated.
Spoofing to calm the storm that was coming with the bond markets…
Then Enda and Merkel said Ireland was a special case.!!!!
https://o.twimg.com/1/proxy.jpg?t=FQQVAhgpaHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0cGljLmNvbS9zaG93L2xhcmdlL2I2OTBwei5qcGcUBBYAEgA&s=lbfMsYcrL9uIOX1ruu5EGpSTKkzl4kDhYeHbn_ksUi4
Yes… The basket case of Europe…
Have the sheeple still not learned ? Ah well another €12.5 bn less by the end of 2015 should wake them from their slumber.
It’s like an Irish mammy saying “we’ll see” when you asked for something nice!
@stewarthand and usually as a ‘mammy’ when I say ‘we’ll see’, I actually mean no, but I’m not in the humour for the tantrum I’m going to hear and it gives me time to make up a good excuse and offer an alternative suitable to me!
lol
JP you are deluded mate if you see this vague statement as something positive and also extremely naive…..Enda Kenny has got absolutely f*****g nowhere and trust me he is going nowhere fast. Eddie Hobbs spoke candidly on Marian Finucane over the weekend and he said we are in the SAME position we were in 4 years ago our politicians don’t have the spine to stand up to the German and French banks we CANNOT afford to pay back bondholders period WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!!!!!!!
Actions speak louder than words… Please get on with it !!!
There was obviously some “doing” for her to mumble those words.
If it happens at all it won’t until she’s sure of her place. Election on the way and German electorate not wanting to hand away the money….
Seems like positive news. Now for the standard cynicism that generally gets commented on here…..
Oh yeah. The web is just full of cynicism. I was built for cynics. Ignore then
Cynicism is a necessity in today’s EU. I’ll believe It when I see it. My guess is we will be spun along with vague promises for years until every cent has been paid back to German and French banks only then to be told to suck it up. If you believe anything else you a being very naive.
SShh..don’t be disturbing Polyanna. Realism not allowed…bad for confidence. And ya can’t have white-collar confidence trickery without yer confidence.
@Derek… the web is full of cynics? I’ll believe that when I see it.
@Tom- naive? Not me sir…. Enda Kenny cares personally about me, my family and my future… didn’t he go to my Granny’s cousin’s funeral and he gave me a secret wink one night when he was on Primetime.
@Damien- I agree that we have to be realistic… positivity at the expense of fact and likelihood is tiring and false. However it seems that the vocal online tend towards glass half empty more often than half full on here. Hopefully it’s a step in the right direction.
And yes…. I will hold my hands up and admit that I Googled ‘Polyanna.’ I’m now going to square peg it into my daily conversations as a metaphorical slap in the face to the uninformed. #smug
Hon Kenny !
Sadly, WE know that this is window dressing. Germany and the EU have zero intention of taking the European banking debt back off the Irish shoulders. Why should they, we have already made it soevereign. They can renegotiate the loan over 50 years, but that will still mean that 20% of all Irish tax paid over the next 20 years will go to pay off the banking debt.
The Emperor has no clothes, and trust me, Enda Kenny in the Nip is not something any of us want to see… Photo Op or Not.
I don’t see anything particularly positive in that statement. Queen of Europe wants to help us get back in the markets where we can borrow money from German banks rather than borrow it from the Troika. There is nothing concrete about what we really need – debt restructuring.
Their taking the p— !
We need considerably more than debt restructuring.
The system is unfit for 21st century purpose, its still running on a 19th century imperial Great Gameplan. Primitive minds in pin-stripes won’y solve the raft of planetary shit heading for the fan.
Read a little history. These cycles are unsustainable, the oscillations are getting more extreme. These people have invested their careers in a redundant model, they won’t abandon it now.
If Merkel wants us to borrow from her banks, then why is she asking us to close our deficit?
What you’ve just said makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Its clear what germany wants David, to give Ireland a small bit of breathing space to allow us to continue to pay off debt thats not ours. This will happen and your leader and noonan will hail it as a victory.
Yeah, Merkel just loves being forced into a clarification on a Sunday afternoon by a country a fraction in size of her own and with herself up for election in a matter of months…..
Didn’t see anything in the article about the frau being ‘forced’ to do anything David, and I doubt inda would be the person to do it considering he wouldn’t even face ursula halligan in a debate pre-referendum.
Ok well that seems a bit more positive that her last statement. If they don’t do this though we will never get out of this hole!
‘Special’…zis ist der Deutch fur ze ‘basket’, ja.
Now line up all the critics all the moaners and all the whingers together with all the politicians from Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein in particular and offer a public and a sincere apology to the Taoiseach for the abuse heaped on him constantly sine he assumed office but particularly since he returned from Brussels.
Where are they……………..slinking off into the long grass to hide from the responsibility they need to accept for continually running down the efforts being made on their behalf and specifically making that task harder through their ignorance and stupidity.
Well done Mr Kenny and colleagues. We owe you a DEBT …..of gratitude.
Spot on Paddy, well done lads, hopefully they can leverage this statement to get an agenda item on the next meeting of finance minesters
Please, spare us! I’ll be the first in line to congratulate them if they get a decent deal on the debt, and by that I mean a write down, not stretching it out for 50 or 100 years!
There’s nothing in that statement but posturing, when is this change going to happen; WHEN are they going to take it into consideration that Ireland is a “special case”???
And when (if) they eventually get around to it, who says they won’t come to the same conclusion anyway.
Nothing to be happy about here, we don’t owe them anything, but between this lot and the last shower, they owe us 10′s of billions.
Get a grip!
Paddy, go to bed and have a good sleep.
Paddy apology for what?what deal has he got?If something isn’t done about our debt,people in this country would rise up.All this statement is for is to keep us calm for another while.As another commentator on here said there never was a deal,Merkel never agreed a deal.The only people saying she agreed a deal was our government.
this statement doesnt change a thing. there is no commitment to do anything only looking at our situation and taking it into account. she didnt confirm anything on the deal the gov are harping on about. i will give credit where its due but none due yet.
An apology for what. They have said nothing new only reaffirmed the statement from June which is worthless. She was clear on Friday that there will be no retrospective recapitalisation of banks. FFG/Labour can come on here in droves and try to spin it otherwise but there is not one word in that statement to indicate that she has changed her mind on this. And there is no way Spain or Portugal will accept having to pay out if we got a deal and they didn’t.
Get real, thank Kenny my hole, I didn’t hear the magic words and that statement was dragged out of her after a lot of wrangling through fear of the markets hammering our bonds in the morning!
Paddy there is only one word I can use to describe your comment.
PREMATURE.
Perhaps you should wait until there’s actually an official statement before you rush to congratulate, celebrate and demand apologies..
@Paddy
When you realise that the ‘deal’ Edna Kenny is talking about is a restructuring of the time frame of the debt, not a write down, I’ll give you a screen grab of that statement you have just made, so that you can see in the cold light of day, just how ridiculous it actually is…
Hi Joe, restructuring the time frame is as good as a reduction of debt. It’s known as inflating away the debt. Lots of countries have done it.
Seeing is believing—- Action speaks louder than words—-how many times before have we had broken promises!!
Positive sounding statement. Hopefully we see the action in due course.
Another ‘positive sounding statement? Whoopee.
Good to see the government force a statement on this from Europe – well done
Yes, good job lads, almost 5 years and you got a statement that they “might” give a sh1t.
So where is the deal?
Oh wait we have to wait yet again for another round of talks, which will result in another round of talks and another round of talks and ……
Yea right,
If we have a debt deal give us a debt deal, We have a budget in 8 weeks time it would be nice for once to have a budget that isnt going to screw those who can least afford it yet again!
Irish Times now picked up this story.
Its nothing more than Spin.
From the Times.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed tonight the commitment made on June 29th to task the Eurogroup “to examine situation of the Irish financial sector with a view to further improving the sustainability of the well performing adjustment programme.”
FFS, how long to they need to “Examine the situation”.
Spin, Spin, Spin to keep the Irish happy just at a time when we were actually starting to question this government.
No dates, No deadlines, Just Spin.
your correct, it is a spin. The fact is the government has run out of ideas a long time ago and they are going to try and milk the taxpayer for what they have.
Real Ireland the time required to examine the situation is until all the bond holders are payed. So not this year and not next year as we will be paying 17 billion to bond holders next year. Not sure if we have more bondholders to pay off in 2014. But what ever once we have done that we will be cut loose.
Arbeit macht frei.
In fairness to Kenny though, at least he puts huge effort in. Biffo would have gone on the beer for the weekend.
using a term like biffo makes you just as ignorant as Cowan to be honest.
He earned it.
more political hype believe it when it happens
Isn’t it extraordinary that we have so many people whose only outlook on life and politics is so negative. Do most of you not realise that when the Taoiseach is in Brussels at Meetings as serious as this one that he need all the support he can get rather than the appalling criticisms that are actually undermining the Irish position.
We are so ignorant as a people with the childlike belief that we can make public comment about the most powerful European policing by accusing her of being a Nazi and a Fuhrer and think it doesn’t matter or it won’t bet back to her. We then go on sites such as this and abuse the politicians who have to negotiate with these people with such a tainted and embarrassing background.
Sometimes you get the resuLts you deserve!
Put the cork back in the bottle Paddy !! Or Mick ……
Absolutely deluded Paddy, no wonder are country has been sold out to the highest bidders with spineless Vichyites like yourself who unquestionably follow our “great leaders” (debt collectors) and their German overlords.Your not even worth this comment.
I think this is just spin, I think that merkal is going to sell out on.ireland as she has her own interests to protect (german.elections,next year)
We are a “special” case alright. To have paid all the unsecured bondholders, “special” isn’t the word!!! Lets see the deal that saves us first before we cannonise Enda!!!
Just throwing us a few crumbs to keep us under the thumb and working for nothing… cheers Enda!
To those saying that this comment is just “spin” – why the hell would Merkel bother her arse? She had no reason to release a joint statement, unless it was meant. Ireland is a very small piece of the Euro crisis. The statements on retrospective debt deals is actually aimed at the big guns like Italy and Spain, ironically for future reference. The deal needs to be done but credit so far where it’s due to Kenny for baffling feathers in Europe to get our (relatively speaking) small issue on the agenda.
To keep the markets happy tommorow morning.
I have no doubt the plan is to get Ireland back to the bond markets and then dump us, tommorow our bonds would have jumped the wrong way if they thought we werent getting a deal.
No they can rest easy because its back to square one, a promise that sometime in the future they will discuss the special country Ireland. Nothing more.
She did it, and there was absolutely nothing substantive in the statement, because Ireland has been no trouble to Europe/Germany. We borrowed the money from them to pay back their bondholders and we will then be paying them back for decades, they will proffit greatly from our meek obedience, all they have to do is give us the odd gold star, not like the Greeks.
Now if things were to change and our politicians were to be seen to be what they are, useless, and Ireland suddenly began to cause trouble, protests, strikes and mobs on the street maybe a new election, maybe the next lot would actually be a bit more militant. No, no, Germany couldn’t have that, they’ll protect their interests, their money, even if that means Angela Merkel appears to say something nice to Ireland, she may even throw us a few crumbs next to keep us content. Who knows?
real Ireland: nail on the head
She is afraid we will carry out the threat, no more Kerrygold Unless.
They cannot afford for Ireland or in particular the Irish to start questioning any of this. We have to be be seen as pliable , compliant, well behaved and doing as we are told ….€64,000,000,000 Jesus we are pure idiots for not putting a stop to this nightmare !
less talk more deal
GROW A PAIR ENDA INSTEAD OF GROVELLING LIKE THE WIMP YOU ARE TAKE THE ECB TO THE EUROPEAN COURT,,WHAT THEY DID TO US WAS AND IS ILLEGAL,,AT LEAST THREATEN THEM WITH THE COURTS YOU SPINELESS IDIOT
I’m sittin’ right here. No need to get all shouty!!! *pish*
Legal action should be taken and can be dropped if deal is secured on bank debt.. ECB acted illegally (apparently).
That is how you get leverage.
As informative as this article is, I can’t get past the ?64.1billion.
Makes me sick.
Hopeful more than positive….it’s very hard to believe a word that comes out of either of them. I get the impression tht Merkel is saying ths just to shut Kenny up and to stop him frim ringing her….I’d be sceptical although would hope to be proved wrong.
I wouldn’t care what the reason is. If it was because of the 6-1 soccer result, it wouldn’t matter. If it was to shut Enda up, fair play to him. It’s another step in the right direction.
If this turns out to be a deal on the debt that is not ours, fantastic, until then these are just more words being used to kick that much battered can!
Special case more like basket case !!
Took the words out of my mouth ‘
Me too
Special needs…
Has there been a soft landing? Have we just turned another corner? Not one red cent? Frankfurt’s way or Labour’s way? Wear the green Jersey? Jobs Boost? 3.2% growth this year? Bank Deal? or is just more bags of smoke? One thing’s for sure CPA is go. Death to the taxpayers!
Talk is cheap, lets see action and no more broken promises from FG/Labour!
Stephen
You are correct , talk is cheap. This is nothing more than spin. Kenny saw the reactions of people on friday evening and on saturday and he got worried the cash cow aka Irish tax payers were going to waken up to the fact that we are being robbed . He got afraid and rang his boss to get help…
Enda is Special ok,real Special.
One of Merkel’s advisers obviously saw that her weekend speech- in which she outlined her clear intention- had caused some political difficulty for her most obedient little poodle among the PIIGS leaders. To fob him off without committing anything whatsoever, the advisor scripted this meaningless hot air – interchangeable with statements to Greece, Spain etc, so now Enda looks slightly less of a spineless failure than everybody knows he is. It’s all blah blah until we LEAVE THE EURO.
Leave the Euro? You think its bad now, it will be 10 times as bad if we leave the Euro!!
@ David, sadly, you’re absolutely right. This would be possibly the very worst moment to leave the Euro, saddled with debt that would still be in Euro, and with very little worth on which to base a new currency on. It “might” have worked as an alternative to accepting a bail-out, but the country needs to recover a sizeable amount before considering this.
The country with the most to lose from a break-up of the Euro is Germany. Factor that into our negotiation stance. We would be leaving all this unplayable debt behind if we did leave, but it is more likely the debt would be written off before we got to that point. Unfortunately.
Ireland would grind to an economic halt if we left the Euro.
People may think that Goverments can print unlimited amounts of money but the reality is they can’t. A new Irish pound would devalue hugely against every major currency thus increasing our debt level because our existing debt would be in Euro and other foreign currencies. Our import costs would rise accordingly, interest rates would go up significantly triggering massive mortgage defaults and our banks would have no access to the liquidity that the ECB is currently giving them so they’d probably collapse. In effect we’d be exactly where we were in 2008 and the four years of hardship that we’ve already suffered would have counted for absolutely nothing.
The rest of Europe including Germany would suffer if Ireland defaulted and left the Euro but our economy is a fraction of the entire EU economy so the effects would be fair worse here than anywhere else.
Jim the point is that getting away from the Euro means getting away from the ECB. We have a valid point that the money we borrowed was forced on us and done to prop up foreign bondholders- ie it is “odious debt” and we can quite rightly repudiate it, and I would suggest to anyone to read up on how Ecuador did this successfully. A devaluation is exactly what we need, and as yet untapped oil could be leveraged against oil imports, the main problem with devaluation. It may involve finding new international partners, but any right-thinking person can see that the ECB, Germany, France et al aren’t partners at all, they are owners with nothing but contempt for us. It’s time we started seeing ourselves as participants in this mess whose actions can affect the overall dynamic, rather than frightened little children observing from the sidelines. And as for Germany, the biggest fear they have is their current customers devaluing their currency against them..who would they sell to? It would terrify them and they would have far more to lose than we would.
@robin , you seem to completely ignore the mess our domestic finances are In which is the main reason we are in a bailout program , current levels of running this country cost about 20bn more per year than we generate in tax , that’s 100bn in 5 years , where can we access that level of capital if OT Europe , are you forgetting the reason we are in a program us because we can’t borrow on the markets , all the anti euro grandstanding sounds great and populous but you have not given a single credible workable alternative.
Dave, there is no “credible” solution that maintains the wealth in the country, including the current path.
Well trying to separate the debt , get a write down , readjust the current spending and get a bit real with running costs is route that if implemented might, FFS we still pay John Delaney 360000 to run football , mariane Finnucane 500000 euro to do weekend radio show and on and on it goes …….
If you all can comment so well on this site why don’t you get out there and do something about what is happening to this country . If we allow our supposed leaders to continue to do as the EU and the bankers want we will have to eventually default on our debt. There is no way as a nation we can ever pay these debts we are accruing and we are only getting in deeper. We need to look to our nearest neighbours Iceland for the solution as to what I and others suggested doing three years ago and we could be well on our way to getting out of the austerity the E U and others want us to give in to. We are only selling on this debt to our children and our children’s children.
The reality is that every Government sells debt on the their children and their children’s children. Debt is constantly rolled over and reissued. That’s how global markets work. In ireland’s case the problem is that the bank guarantee loaded too much debt too quickly.
We’re never going to get all of that debt taken away. Any deal will only remove some of this debt but the reality is that if some of it can be removed instantly and the rest can be put on the long finger, inflation will reduce the amount of debt in real terms. Also over a longer period if the economy grows the ratio of debt to the value of the economy shrinks as well.
One other point. Iceland didn’t have a huge gap in the fiscal spending when their banks collapsed. Therefore they didn’t need to plug a hole in their finances in 2007/8. We not only had to pump money into the banks, we also had a yawning fiscal gap because Government spending was being pumped up on the back of unsustainable tax revenues.
However because the Icelandic currency collapsed they now have a debt to GDP ratio higher than Ireland and a budget deficit every bit as big as ours. That should be a lesson for all those people who tell us we should leave the Euro because that’s what would happen to a new Irish pound.
Do you have some links about Iceland’s fiscal spending at the time Jim?
I’ve never heard that before, the only reasoning I’ve ever heard is because of our membership in the Euro.
Since when did herr mearkel become the leader of Europe come back Churchill we need you
When she started dishing out the cash.
If he pulls this off we might let Mayo win the all Ireland next year.
Ah leave it out – ah here leave it out.
jazus i may stand corrected but the words unique and special are vague. after 3 days he has at least got a statement out of her
Delay delay delay and all the while we are still forking out for bond payments. Christ almighty they must think we’re stupid. Greece needs 13.5 billion euro In further cuts next month so that will top the agenda until the new year and we will be put to the back of queue all the while paying off more bonds
Has Enda found the G spot ?
Hope thats “G” for German…..lol
Greece gets a 100 billion write-off of its debt, and Ireland gets a vague statement declaring that we are a special case. Meaningless platitudes. Kenny gets a humiliating pat on the head from Sarcozy, and today on page four of the Sindo, we have Noonon getting a pat on the head from the Eurogroup president Jean Claude Juncker. This is beyond humiliation.It is absurd, grotesque and utterly shamefullof our so called leaders.
It’s just insulting to those adults who get patted on the head like school children but its devastating for us who put our faith in them to deliver us from this nightmare and now find that our future was placed in the hands of people who pretend to be tough when seeking office but turn out to be something entirely different. A confidence trick. Performed by Con Men.
Anyone notice its only Journal.ie covering this story.
Nothing from RTE, Not even from the website of the Taioseach.
Where did Journal.ie pick this story up from?
Don’t hate us just because we break news quicker!
I didnt give you the thumbs down!
Well done Journal.ie, First in ireland with this news!
I really wonder what has been promised in return.
I think 6 counties is the usual isn’t it?!
I’m only joking before the loopers arrive….
A reach-around, perhaps
One good thing may come from this.
Enda clearly has been feeling the pressure all weekend, Obviously he has had to get off his lazy arse and contact Merkel and somehow manage to get her to make a statement about us being special.
Hopefully Enda may now realise that when backed into a corner the Germans also cave in and if he pushed harder for a deal we may just get one.
Time to fight Mr Kenny and force something from them. No more Mr Nice guy, the milky bar kid is in town.
I don’t think he sees it as them being backed into a corner, he sees it as him being backed into a corner.
Embarrassing.
It really looks like enda in the photo is thinking ‘oh shit, we really are f#%ked’
Puppet
NOT
How bout the begrudgers like urself Shane get up off ye’r arses, run for election and do a better job…. Put up or shut up! It’s easy to criticise and if u have a better plan, genuinely I wud like to here it.
A tea bag has more backbone than quisling kenny.
Tommy might be too late by the time an election is called.
I think Merkel might be worried that Enda could be in trouble in the not so distant future about his fat income and pension. Time will tell.
We so lucky to have Mr Kenny in charge.
The key issue in terms of timing is the upcoming Budget. If our fiscal situation improves after that it might be too late for the likes of some elderly people who will be denied home help etc etc.
“Go Enda… It’s your birthday…”
*doin’ the Dad dance*
Will resist the urge to be sceptical & cynical (for now!).
This statement makes no concrete commitment & sounds an awful lot like the typical FG spin HOWEVER I’d rather support it for now.
Spin? The only spinning here is from the usual anti-Government sources that pervade Journal.
Yesterday they were almost gleeful in the fact that apparantly a deal wouldn’t be done for Ireland’s banking debt because it allowed them to moan at the Government. Today of course when it looks like something will be done they’re straight out with their “this means nothing” comments. Yesterday they were all about Enda “growing a pair” and “standing up for Ireland” and “talking to Angela Merkel”. Today when he does that exact thing they’re still not happy.
To be honest its fairly clear that some posters here actually don’t want a deal because it doesn’t suit their narrow political agenda. They’d probably be far happier if no deal was done and no doubt when a deal is done they still won’t be happy.
Those people are actually complaining that this statement sounds very much like what we have head before and are yet to see any benefit from. There is nothing concrete in the statement, just a “we’ll bear it in mind, we’ll see”. We are sick of weaselling, we want something definite. That’s all. If you have a problem with that I would question why.
*heard before
Yes it does sound familiar because its a reiteration of the statement that came out at the previous meeting which acknowledged that some form of deal had to be done to break the link between sovereign and banking debt.
That deal is being negotiated and every single statement that has come out since is basically different government playing to their local markets. So the Germans and the Finns want to be seen to be playing tough. The Irish want to emphasise that a deal is being done and the reality is that the negotiations happen behind closed doors. The problem here is that every negative statement by the Germans and the Finns is being held up as reality and every Irish statement is being denigrated as spin. The truth actually lies somewhere in between.
So you are in know now,explain how you know a deal will be done.
I’m not in the know but the reality is that a deal will be done in some format that allows every side to claim something. Ireland needs to get back into the financial markets next year or else they will have to get another bailout. Nobody in the EU wants Ireland to have to get another bailout so it will be in everybody’s interest to do a deal that is satisfactory enough for the markets to believe that Ireland can go its own way from 2013 onwards. If that means some form of debt reduction so that Ireland’s debt to GDP ratio can be sustainable then that’s what they’ll do.
its all a load shit kenny and co said before been elected that not 1 cent would they get and guess what they haven,t just billions out of us all of them are looking after themselves and couldn,t give a shit about anyone else
You’re wrong. FG said that no MORE money would be put into the banks beyond what had already been agreed. The existing payments would be honoured but that was it. And while you probably won’t believe it, that is exactly what has happened.
Good man Enda, Keep letting them shit on your head and saying thanks for the hat. That’ll get us places. Cap doffing eejit
These spin speeches are worse than the repeated Jobs action plans we keep getting every month
Got to play hardball with theses Eurocrats Kenny
Until we actually see a renegotiated deal on our debt this is mere empty rhetoric from Merkel. This statement should not be lauded as a win for Kenny, as it will no doubt be spun by the government.
German verb einstellen had dual meaning that is “to adjust” or to “abandon”. Let’s hope she means the first, either way at least fianna fail are gone!!
Yeah, now if we could only get rid of their policies.
Here here! United we stand. Divided we fall. Wize words and the founding cornerstone of the Eu. The sovereign must be split from the financial, the alternative is to fully create a financial system that is 100% public owned and minus any liabilities from the private era. Communism although a favourable ideal in many respects may fail again. Ireland Is getting out of the mess Europe is now finding itself in and not even Germany will be immune. Soon the Irish people will be asked to help Europe in the same way as we were asked to help Africa.
How do you know a politician is lying? Their lips are moving!
Simple answer is, Get a journalist any journalist will do , and ask the German finance minister this, Is Ireland getting a retrospective deal on its banking debt Yes or No …..
Great idea. Should the journalist speak German or English ?
Irish maybe !!
I’ve got a solution. Sue the Germans for bombing the North Strand in WW2. With retrospective interest added on the settlement should clear our debt ;) hehe
“Special” is the German word for “basket.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see any straight talking until after the german election next autumn, an meybe not even then
I am suck of Politicians speaking from their very well written scripts and speeches,written for them by their over paid advisors They speak the speech and not with intelligence
Youi may laugh and scoff, but the realy sad thing about this is that this is the best he could do: yet another vague promise…
after November on the Childrens Referendum” Eu will Want A Bailout For Germany And France” the bailout is Sooner than ye all think”The Month Before December” but They need the Article of Justice Reform in the Childrens Referendum to Make The Complete bailout Legal as we will open the can of Worms to Fundermental Human Rights Exposure”
I can’t help wonder if people would think the statement is positive if the media wasn’t presenting it as such.
So they have a “view to further improving the sustainability of the well performing adjustment programme” and think that “Ireland is a special case”
What bailout country isn’t a special case and who’d want to dis-improve the situation?
Seems pretty meaningless to me.
have your say